First Light For The Fermi Space Telescope

[michaelmozina]

<p>Fermi/Glast has revealed it's first light images.&nbsp; The interesting thing to me is that the whole Milky Way galaxy seem to emit these high energy photons.&nbsp; I suppose that's really not a big surprise since Rhessi has observed Gamma rays from our sun and from Earth for many years.&nbsp; &nbsp; These images look remarkably like what we observe in x-ray images.&nbsp; Evidently many objects in space are capable of emitting gamma rays, not just "black holes" and exotic objects. </p><p>http://www.space.com/missionlaunches/080826-glast-new-name.html</p><p>First light images </p><p>Higher Resolution Image </p> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> It seems to be a natural consequence of our points of view to assume that the whole of space is filled with electrons and flying electric ions of all kinds. - Kristian Birkeland </div>

 

[CalliArcale]

<p><BR/>Replying to:<BR/><DIV CLASS='Discussion_PostQuote'>Fermi/Glast has revealed it's first light images.&nbsp; The interesting thing to me is that the whole Milky Way galaxy seem to emit these high energy photons.&nbsp; I suppose that's really not a big surprise since Rhessi has observed Gamma rays from our sun and from Earth for many years.&nbsp; &nbsp; These images look remarkably like what we observe in x-ray images.&nbsp; Evidently many objects in space are capable of emitting gamma rays, not just "black holes" and exotic objects. http://www.space.com/missionlaunches/080826-glast-new-name.htmlFirst light images Higher Resolution Image <br /> Posted by michaelmozina</DIV></p><p>Gamma rays are essentially high energy x-rays (some consider gamma ray a subset of x-ray, others consider it the next band past x-ray) so it should not be surprising that the gamma-ray sky and the x-ray sky look quite similar.&nbsp; And yes, many objects do emit on these frequencies.&nbsp; It's not just exotic stuff like black holes (and black holes don't emit gamma rays at all -- their accretion disks do, and those disks only exist if there is something for it to consume).&nbsp; One example of something that emits gamma-rays is quite close to home.&nbsp; It's the Moon! </p><p>The main challenge with astronomy in these high frequencies is that the Earth's atmosphere effectively filters out nearly all of it.&nbsp; This is where space telescopes such as Fermi GLAST come in.&nbsp; They are above the atmosphere, and so are not affected by it.</p> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p> </p><p><font color="#666699"><em>"People assume that time is a strict progression of cause to effect, but actually from a non-linear, non-subjective viewpoint it's more like a big ball of wibbly wobbly . . . timey wimey . . . stuff."</em>  -- The Tenth Doctor, "Blink"</font></p> </div>

 

[michaelmozina]

<p><BR/>Replying to:<BR/><DIV CLASS='Discussion_PostQuote'>Gamma rays are essentially high energy x-rays (some consider gamma ray a subset of x-ray, others consider it the next band past x-ray) so it should not be surprising that the gamma-ray sky and the x-ray sky look quite similar.&nbsp; And yes, many objects do emit on these frequencies.&nbsp; It's not just exotic stuff like black holes (and black holes don't emit gamma rays at all -- their accretion disks do, and those disks only exist if there is something for it to consume).&nbsp; One example of something that emits gamma-rays is quite close to home.&nbsp; It's the Moon! The main challenge with astronomy in these high frequencies is that the Earth's atmosphere effectively filters out nearly all of it.&nbsp; This is where space telescopes such as Fermi GLAST come in.&nbsp; They are above the atmosphere, and so are not affected by it. <br /> Posted by CalliArcale</DIV></p><p>You're always providing such useful and interesting information.&nbsp; I had absolutely no clue that the moon emitted these same wavelengths. Thanks for the info. &nbsp; It's interersting how many high energy events occur within our own solar system.&nbsp; It's no wonder the entire Milky way "glows" in these wavelengths, since even something as tiny as the moon can become a source of such emissions. &nbsp;&nbsp; Very interesting. &nbsp; </p> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> It seems to be a natural consequence of our points of view to assume that the whole of space is filled with electrons and flying electric ions of all kinds. - Kristian Birkeland </div>

 

[MeteorWayne]

Replying to:<BR/><DIV CLASS='Discussion_PostQuote'>You're always providing such useful and interesting information.&nbsp; I had absolutely no clue that the moon emitted these same wavelengths. Thanks for the info. &nbsp; It's interersting how many high energy events occur within our own solar system.&nbsp; It's no wonder the entire Milky way "glows" in these wavelengths, since even something as tiny as the moon can become a source of such emissions. &nbsp;&nbsp; Very interesting. &nbsp; <br />Posted by michaelmozina</DIV><br /><br />IIRC, the emissions from planetary (and the lunar) suface is caused by high energy particles/photons from the sun causing secondary emissions. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><font color="#000080"><em><font color="#000000">But the Krell forgot one thing John. Monsters. Monsters from the Id.</font></em> </font></p><p><font color="#000080">I really, really, really, really miss the "first unread post" function</font><font color="#000080"> </font></p> </div>

 

[michaelmozina]

<p><BR/>Replying to:<BR/><DIV CLASS='Discussion_PostQuote'>IIRC, the emissions from planetary (and the lunar) suface is caused by high energy particles/photons from the sun causing secondary emissions. <br /> Posted by MeteorWayne</DIV></p><p>That makes sense to me as well.&nbsp; Million mile per hour particles contain a lot of kinetic energy.&nbsp; Such emissions also help explain why we see a persistent background "glow" from a galaxy since even small physical objects can emit these high energy wavelengths, and the photons will scatter in the ISM. &nbsp; </p> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> It seems to be a natural consequence of our points of view to assume that the whole of space is filled with electrons and flying electric ions of all kinds. - Kristian Birkeland </div>

 

[CalliArcale]

Replying to:<BR/><DIV CLASS='Discussion_PostQuote'>You're always providing such useful and interesting information.&nbsp; I had absolutely no clue that the moon emitted these same wavelengths. Thanks for the info. &nbsp; It's interersting how many high energy events occur within our own solar system.&nbsp; It's no wonder the entire Milky way "glows" in these wavelengths, since even something as tiny as the moon can become a source of such emissions. &nbsp;&nbsp; Very interesting. &nbsp; <br /> Posted by michaelmozina</DIV><br /><br />I learn a lot from Astronomy Picture of the Day.&nbsp; ;-)&nbsp; I learn a lot from MeteorWayne, too!&nbsp; This is a great forum for learning stuff. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p> </p><p><font color="#666699"><em>"People assume that time is a strict progression of cause to effect, but actually from a non-linear, non-subjective viewpoint it's more like a big ball of wibbly wobbly . . . timey wimey . . . stuff."</em>  -- The Tenth Doctor, "Blink"</font></p> </div>

 

[michaelmozina]

<p><BR/>Replying to:<BR/><DIV CLASS='Discussion_PostQuote'>I learn a lot from Astronomy Picture of the Day.&nbsp; ;-)&nbsp; I learn a lot from MeteorWayne, too!&nbsp; This is a great forum for learning stuff. <br /> Posted by CalliArcale</DIV></p><p>I agree with you on all counts.&nbsp; </p> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> It seems to be a natural consequence of our points of view to assume that the whole of space is filled with electrons and flying electric ions of all kinds. - Kristian Birkeland </div>