Final Release of SOFIA Cycle 1 Call for Proposals
                 


Initial Release date: November 21, 2011 
Final Release date: December 12, 2011
Deadline for proposal submission: January 27, 2012


We are pleased to announce that Cycle 1 SOFIA observing proposals can now
be submitted.

The deadline for submitting Cycle 1 proposals is January 27, 2012. The
Cycle 1 observing period will be approximately from August 2012 to July 
2013. Instruments offered for the Cycle 1 observations are the FORCAST
mid-infrared camera (P.I. Terry Herter, Cornell University), the GREAT
far-infrared heterodyne spectrometer (P.I. Rolf Guesten, Max Planck
Institute for Radio Astronomy), the FLITECAM near-infrared (1-5 micron)
camera (P.I. Ian MacLean, UCLA) and the HIPO occultation photometer (P.I.
Edward Dunham, Lowell Observatory). The combination of HIPO with FLITECAM
is also available. The instrument configurations of FORCAST with grism,
FLITECAM with grism, and the GREAT mid-frequency channel (e.g. 2.51 THz OH
line; 120 microns) are available but considered "shared-risk".

The first science observations with the FORCAST mid-infrared camera at 5-40
micron and the GREAT far-infrared spectrometer were obtained in December of
2010 and April of 2011, respectively. SOFIA also completed a set of General
Investigator observations from the Basic Science proposal call during 2011.
Initial science results will be presented at the AAS meeting in Austin and
published in special issues of Astrophysical Journal and Astronomy &
Astrophysics.

To prepare and submit Cycle 1 observing proposals, please go to this webpage:
http://www.sofia.usra.edu/Science/proposals/cycle1/

Some of the supporting tools and documentation have been updated based on
recently obtained information. The updates are now released and consist
primarily of time estimators for grism modes, system sensitivities, and
opening for proposal submission. Note also that filters available with
FLITECAM have been updated and detailed information can be found in Section
1.3.1 of the updated Call for Proposals. Potential proposers should
download the latest version of the Call for Proposals and check the
availability of specific filters and grisms on FLITECAM and FORCAST.   

This Cycle 1 proposal call is open to all qualified astronomers,
world-wide, except for those currently affiliated with German institutions,
for whom a separate Call will be issued by the German SOFIA Institute
(DSI). Successful proposers with U.S. professional affiliations will be
eligible to receive funding to support the acquisition, analysis and
publication of their Cycle 1 data.

We look forward to your participation in this exciting new research
opportunity.



              Director of the SOFIA Science Center, Erick Young