Wings of Far-IR: Exploring accretion and outflow towards low to Intermediate mass protostars with SOFIA

With it’s ability to observe at mid to far-IR wavelength, SOFIA was an essential complement to NASA and ESA’s space observatories. We overview SOFIA’s contributions to studies of low to intermediate mass star formation, focusing on two areas of discovery. We first show how HAWC+ and FORCAST, when compared to Spitzer and Herschel data, measured the changing luminosities of young stars and protostars undergoing bursts of rapid mass accretion. These data show the evolution of outbursts and constrain the fraction of a star’s mass accreted during bursts. We then move to outflows. Here we show how the high spectral resolution of the GREAT/upGREAT instruments, when combined with the high angular resolution of HST and JWST, can be used to measure the motions and properties of jets launched by intermediate mass protostars. Finally, we briefly discuss the potential of the SOFIA archive for future studies in star formation.