June 11, 2018 - Gathering Gamma Rays
Gathering Gamma Rays Gamma rays are the highest energy form of light, even higher than X-rays, with about 100,000 times the energy of visible light. This short-wavelength radiation is blocked by Earth’s atmosphere, so the only way to observe it is with space-based observatories. The Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope, launched ten years ago this week, studies events such as Gamma-ray Bursts (GRBs), sudden and mysterious outbursts that can, in just a few seconds, emit 100 times the energy that the Sun will produce over its entire 10 billion-year lifetime. Fermi also studies blazars, neutron stars, gamma-ray background radiation, supernova remnants, dark matter, and more. This gamma-ray map of the Milky Way’s center shows the two opposing high-energy bubbles that Fermi first detected in 2010.
Image credit: NASA/DOE/Fermi LAT Collaboration
Weekly Calendar
June 11 - 17, 2018
Holidays - Sky Events - Space History
Monday 11
2008: Fermi Gamma-Ray Telescope launched
2013: Shenzhou 10 launched, China's fifth human spaceflight mission
Tuesday 12
1967: Venera 4 launched
Wednesday 13
New Moon 3:43 PM ET
1831: James Clerk Maxwell born
1974: National Space Society founded
1983: Pioneer 10 leaves solar system, begins traveling in interstellar space
2010: Hayabusa spacecraft returns first asteroid samples to Earth
2012: NuSTAR X-Ray telescope launched
Thursday 14
Flag Day
Moon at perigee
1967: Mariner 5 launched
1975: Venera 10 launched
1985: Vega 2 deploys lander and balloon on Venus
Friday 15
1971: First Titan III-D rocket launch
2010: Soyuz TMA-19 launched carrying ISS Expedition 24/25 crew
Saturday 16
Venus 2° north of Moon
1963: Vostok 6 launched; Valentina Tereshkova first woman in space, still the only solo spaceflight by a woman
2012: Shenzhou 9 launched, fourth Chinese human space flight
Sunday 17
Father's Day