Recent Scientific Highlights from the Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA)

The Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA) is currently the only observing facility offering a window into the whole mid- and far-IR spectrum (5-600 microns). Its ever evolving suite of instruments offers high-speed mapping, low and high-spectral resolution modes (up to R=10⁸), and recently added polarimetric capabilities on the HAWC+ far-IR camera. This unique and upgradable set of instruments, combined with the ability for the telescope to target Northern and Southern sources, makes SOFIA an essential facility for the astrophysics community, highly complementary to HST/JWST and ALMA. Over 6 observing cycles, SOFIA observations have targeted very diverse sources such as Solar System objects, young stellar objects and disks, planetary nebulae, star-forming regions (galactic and extra galactic) and AGNs. Such observations address a variety of science cases, including the morphology of magnetic fields on galactic scales, ISM gas chemistry, PAH spectroscopy, and atomic/ionized emission in massive star-forming regions. This poster summarizes the most recent high-profile SOFIA-enabled scientific results, focusing on dust imaging and polarimetry in nearby active galaxies, supernovae remnants, and galactic star-forming regions. The two large proposals recently accepted through the Legacy Science Proposal, which aims at providing high-value products to the astronomical community, will also be described. Finally, we present the capabilities of HIRMES, the third generation mid/far-IR imager and spectrometer instrument planned for commissioning in 2020, and HIRMES' future contribution to the study of the mass and composition (including ice and gas-phase water content) of protoplanetary disks.