---
title: "8 Amazing Space Discoveries by the World’s Largest Flying Observatory"  
description: "On May 26, 2010, the Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy, or SOFIA, the world’s largest flying observatory, first peered into the cosmos"  
author: "Abhishek  Sen"  
published: 2022-11-28  
canonical: https://yourviews.mindstick.com/story/1696/8-amazing-space-discoveries-by-the-world-s-largest-flying-observatory  
category: "space science"  
tags: ["Space", "space discoveries", "flying observatory", "world's largest", "NASA", "amazing facts", "amazing Space Facts"]  
reading_time: 2 minutes  

---

# 8 Amazing Space Discoveries by the World’s Largest Flying Observatory

![7 Amazing Space Discoveries by the World s Largest Flying Observatory](https://yourviews.mindstick.com/stories/28b0e4cc-60ae-459d-873a-1043b449442a/images/a97bf730-691d-44a3-bb71-c863bbe09882.jpeg) ![7 Amazing Space Discoveries by the World s Largest Flying Observatory](https://yourviews.mindstick.com/stories/28b0e4cc-60ae-459d-873a-1043b449442a/images/e8602c9f-f7e9-42fc-9bf9-c4a942cc2643.jpeg) Scientists believe that around 100,000 years after the big bang, helium and hydrogen combined to make a molecule called helium hydride. ![7 Amazing Space Discoveries by the World s Largest Flying Observatory](https://yourviews.mindstick.com/stories/28b0e4cc-60ae-459d-873a-1043b449442a/images/57cf8816-c302-419a-83ca-ec232d262046.jpeg) This explain how massive stars are born and what’s feeding our Milky Way galaxy’s supermassive black hole. ![7 Amazing Space Discoveries by the World s Largest Flying Observatory](https://yourviews.mindstick.com/stories/28b0e4cc-60ae-459d-873a-1043b449442a/images/9139904d-a8ac-4157-a650-30c3f695586c.jpeg) A double-star system i.e more than 300 light-years away likely had an extreme collision between two of its rocky planets. That's how our Moon formed ![7 Amazing Space Discoveries by the World s Largest Flying Observatory](https://yourviews.mindstick.com/stories/28b0e4cc-60ae-459d-873a-1043b449442a/images/0426398b-a795-4df5-a024-82394ce419e6.jpeg) A galaxy are trapping material where it is close enough to be devoured by a hungry black hole. ![7 Amazing Space Discoveries by the World s Largest Flying Observatory](https://yourviews.mindstick.com/stories/28b0e4cc-60ae-459d-873a-1043b449442a/images/d1d625a4-0974-46b4-ad71-0e9436eda0d3.jpeg) The planetary system around Epsilon Eridani, a star located about 10 light-years away, has an architecture remarkably similar to our solar system. ![7 Amazing Space Discoveries by the World s Largest Flying Observatory](https://yourviews.mindstick.com/stories/28b0e4cc-60ae-459d-873a-1043b449442a/images/659d21f6-23ce-43d3-8de4-1c13f72d27a2.jpeg) Black holes in many galaxies are actively consuming material, but our Milky Way galaxy’s central black hole is relatively quiet. ![7 Amazing Space Discoveries by the World s Largest Flying Observatory](https://yourviews.mindstick.com/stories/28b0e4cc-60ae-459d-873a-1043b449442a/images/818c95d7-4ed4-4e8e-974b-e39af5812e4b.jpeg) The wind flowing from the center of the Cigar Galaxy is so strong it’s pulling a magnetic field — and the mass of 50 to 60 million Suns — with it. ![7 Amazing Space Discoveries by the World s Largest Flying Observatory](https://yourviews.mindstick.com/stories/28b0e4cc-60ae-459d-873a-1043b449442a/images/6da66a78-4540-4da3-ac71-ced456d4b507.jpeg) It turns out that supernova explosions can produce a substantial amount of material from which planets like Earth can form.

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Original Source: https://yourviews.mindstick.com/story/1696/8-amazing-space-discoveries-by-the-world-s-largest-flying-observatory

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