Development of the SOFIA Image Processing Tool

Abstract

The Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA) is a Boeing 747SP carrying a 2.5 meter infrared telescope capable of operating between at altitudes of between twelve and fourteen kilometers, which is above more than 99 percent of the water vapor in the atmosphere. The ability to make observations above most water vapor coupled with the ability to make observations from anywhere, anytime, make SOFIA one of the world s premiere infrared observatories. SOFIA uses three visible light CCD imagers to assist in pointing the telescope. The data from these imagers is stored in archive files as is housekeeping data, which contains information such as boresight and area of interest locations. A tool that could both extract and process data from the archive files was developed.