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Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope
Article By:
Harding, Alice K. Astrophysics Science Division, Goddard Space Flight Center, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Greenbelt, Maryland.
Omodei, Nicola Instituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Sezione di Pisa, Italy.
Last reviewed:2010
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1036/1097-8542.YB100253
Cosmic high-energy gamma rays are produced by a diverse array of sources in the universe that signal the presence of natural particle accelerators. Among these are distant cores of active galaxies and the mysterious gamma-ray bursts, pulsars and cosmic-ray interactions in our Galaxy, and the Sun and Moon in our solar system. The recently launched Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope, with unprecedented sensitivity and angular resolution, is discovering hundreds of new sources of cosmic gamma rays with the hope of probing the inner workings of the high-energy accelerators and possibly uncovering the nature of dark matter.
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