ED08-0297-04
The High-speed Imaging Photometer for Occultation, or HIPO, instrument was installed on the Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy telescope Nov. 17 to support a study of the telescope’s optical performance.
HIPO takes images of the solar system rapidly at wavelengths the human eye can see. The instrument was designed to observe stellar occultations. This occurs when a star serves as a small probe of the atmospheric structure of a solar system object or the surface density structure of a planetary ring or comet. HIPO, built for the SOFIA at the Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff, Ariz., will remain on the telescope through mid-December. Nighttime telescope activities using HIPO are scheduled for the week of Nov. 24.› Read SOFIA Mission Update 11-17-08Photo Description
The Lowell Observatory’s High-speed Imaging Photometer for Occultation rests on its dolly in the lab prior to installation on the SOFIA airborne observatory.November 12, 2008
NASA Photo / Tom Tschida