What is a gamma ray telescope? The Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope is a NASA spacecraft. It is in space studying the most powerful sources of radiation in the universe. Radiation is energy that is in
What is a gamma ray telescope?
The Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope is a NASA spacecraft. It is in space studying the most powerful sources of radiation in the universe. Radiation is energy that is in the form of light or of moving particles that are smaller than atoms. The most extreme type of radiation is gamma rays.
Are there gamma ray telescopes?
The Fermi Gamma-Ray Telescope is a space observatory designed to study the universe in highly energetic frequencies known as gamma-rays. It includes participation from NASA, the U.S. Department of Energy, and several partners both in the United States and internationally.
What are some examples of gamma ray telescopes?
The sky at energies above 100 MeV observed by the Energetic Gamma Ray Experiment Telescope (EGRET) of the Compton Gamma Ray Observatory (CGRO) satellite (1991–2000). The Moon as seen by the Energetic Gamma Ray Experiment Telescope (EGRET), in gamma rays of greater than 20 MeV.
Who invented gamma ray telescope?
professor Enrico Fermi
NASA renamed the mission that August in honor of professor Enrico Fermi (1901-1954), a pioneer in high-energy physics. This view shows the entire sky at energies greater than 1 GeV based on five years of data from the LAT instrument on NASA’s Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope.
Can gamma rays be detected on Earth?
Earth’s atmosphere blocks most gamma rays, so most gamma-ray telescopes are carried on satellites and balloons. However, some ground-based telescopes can observe the Cherenkov radiation produced when a gamma ray strikes Earth’s upper atmosphere.
What was the first gamma ray telescope?
satellite Explorer 11
The first gamma-ray telescope was carried on board the American satellite Explorer 11 in 1961. In the 1960s the Vela defense satellites designed to detect gamma rays from clandestine nuclear testing serendipitously discovered enigmatic gamma-ray bursts coming from deep space.
What produces gamma rays on Earth?
They are produced by the hottest and most energetic objects in the universe, such as neutron stars and pulsars, supernova explosions, and regions around black holes. On Earth, gamma waves are generated by nuclear explosions, lightning, and the less dramatic activity of radioactive decay.
What are the risks of gamma rays?
Dangers and Uses of Gamma Rays The extremely high energy of gamma rays allows them to penetrate just about anything. They can even pass through bones and teeth. This makes gamma rays very dangerous. They can destroy living cells, produce gene mutations, and cause cancer.
How does a gamma-ray telescope work?
Since gamma rays have so much energy, they pass right through the mirror of a standard optical telescope. Instead, gamma rays are detected by the optical flashes they produce when interacting with the material in a specially designed instrument such as a scintillation detector.
What are facts about gamma rays?
Facts about gamma radiation: 1. Production of Gamma Radiation. Gamma rays are produced from the excited nucleus of a radioactive element. An excited radioactive element decays to form its daughter element by a process called isometric transition.
What uses do gamma rays have?
Though gamma rays are bio-hazardous in nature, they can be controlled and used for various important purposes: It is used in the treatment of cancer without surgery. It is used to sterilize surgical instruments. It is also used in the food industry to kill harmful bacteria.
What does the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope do?
The Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope (FGST), formerly called the Gamma-ray Large Area Space Telescope (GLAST), is a space observatory being used to perform gamma-ray astronomy observations from low Earth orbit.
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