SOFIA science community e-mail news, November 2011


                 SOFIA Cycle 1 Call for Proposals Released



We are pleased to announce the Cycle 1 Call for SOFIA observing proposals.
The first science observations with the FORCAST mid-infrared camera at 5-40
micron (P.I. Terry Herter, Cornell University) and the GREAT far-infrared
spectrometer (P.I. Rolf Guesten, Max Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy)
were obtained in Dec 2010 and April of 2011, respectively. SOFIA also
completed a set of general investigator observations from the Basic Science
proposal call during 2011.

The deadline for submitting Cycle 1 proposals is January 27, 2012. The
Cycle 1 observing period will be approximately from August 2012 to August
2013. Instruments offered for the Cycle 1 observations are the FORCAST
mid-infrared camera, the GREAT far-infrared heterodyne spectrometer, 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
configuration of FORCAST with grism, FLITECAM with grism and GREAT
mid-frequency channel (e.g. 2.51 THz OH line) are available but considered
"shared-risk" observations.

To prepare and submit observing proposals, see the Cycle 1 webpage:
http://www.sofia.usra.edu/Science/proposals/cycle1/
Some of the supporting tools and documentation are undergoing updates based
on recently obtained information. These updates (primarily, the system
sensitivities; and opening for proposal submission) will be released on
December 12, 2011.

This 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 Deutsches SOFIA Institut. 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 SOFIA Science Center, Erick Young