... SOFIA s Window Seat . ... Credit Copyright: Courtesy Dana Backman ( SETI Institute ), USRA , L-3 Explanation: Earlier this month, a 2.5-meter diameter infrared telescope was permanently assigned a window seat , looking through this opening in the fuselage of a historic Boeing 747 aircraft. ... Water vapor strongly absorbs infrared light, so at that altitude SOFIA will be able to acquire infrared images not possible for even the largest ground-based telescopes. ... The Galactic Center in Infrared . ...