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Vela Pulsar as Seen By Fermi Gamma-Ray Telescope
Credit: NASA, DOE, International Fermi LAT Collaboration
Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope's extremely complex movements in space produce this delicate tracery of epicycles produced by the Vela Pulsar,
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Best View Ever of Universe's Most Extreme Energy
Credit: NASA/DOE/Fermi LAT Collaboration
This view from NASA's Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope is the deepest and best-resolved portrait of the gamma-ray sky to date. The image shows how the sky appears at energies more than 150 million times greater than that of visible light. Among the signatures of bright pulsars and active galaxies is something familiar -- a faint path traced by the sun.
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Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope
Credit: NASA
Artist's illustration of NASA's Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope.
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Gamma Rays in Cygnus X Star-Forming Region
Credit: NASA/DOE/Fermi LAT Collaboration/I. A. Grenier and L. Tibaldo
Gamma-ray emission detected by NASA's Fermi space telescope fills bubbles of hot gas created by the most massive stars in a region of the constellation Cygnus known as Cygnus X. The turbulence and shock waves produced by these stars make it more difficult for high-energy cosmic rays to traverse the region. When the particles strike gas nuclei or photons of starlight, gamma rays result.
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Galactic Haze Seen by Planck and Galactic 'Bubbles' Seen by Fermi
Credit: ESA/Planck Collaboration (microwave); NASA/DOE/Fermi LAT/D. Finkbeiner et al. (gamma rays)
This all-sky image shows the distribution of the galactic haze seen by ESA's Planck mission at microwave frequencies superimposed over the high-energy sky, as seen by NASA's Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope. Image released February 13, 2012.
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W44 Supernova Remnant
Credit: NASA/DOE/Fermi LAT Collaboration, ROSAT, JPL-Caltech, and NRAO/AUI
Fermi's LAT mapped GeV-gamma-ray emission (magenta) from the W44 supernova remnant. The features clearly align with filaments detectable in other wavelengths. This composite merges X-rays (blue) from the Germany-led ROSAT mission, infrared (red) from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope, and radio (orange) from the NRAO's Very Large Array near Socorro, N.M.
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Fermi Space Telescope Nearly Hit by Cosmos 1805
Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center
NASA's $690 million Fermi space telescope was nearly hit by the dead Russian spy satellite Cosmos 1805 on April 3, 2012. This NASA graphic depicts the orbital paths of the two spacecraft.
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Radio-emitting Lobes in Centaurus A
Credit: NASA/DOE/Fermi LAT Collaboration, Capella Observatory, and Ilana Feain, Tim Cornwell, and Ron Ekers (CSIRO/ATNF), R. Morganti (ASTRON), and N. Junkes (MPIfR)
This radio, optical and gamma-ray composite illustrates the full extent of Cen A's vast radio-emitting lobes. Radio data (orange) reveal that the structures span more than 1.4 million light-years, and Fermi's LAT data (purple) show that they also emit gamma rays.
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W44 Supernova Remnant in Parent Star
Credit: NASA/DOE/Fermi LAT Collaboration, NRAO/AUI, JPL-Caltech, ROSAT
The W44 supernova remnant is nestled within and interacting with the molecular cloud that formed its parent star. Fermi's LAT detects GeV gamma rays (magenta) produced when the gas is bombarded by cosmic rays, primarily protons. Radio observations (yellow) from the Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array near Socorro, N.M., and infrared (red) data from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope reveal filamentary structures in the remnant's shell. Blue shows X-ray emission mapped by the Germany-led ROSAT mission.
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Fast-Spinning Stars Get New Image
Credit: NASA/Fermi/LAT Collaboration
ASA's Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope has found 12 previously unknown pulsars (orange). Fermi also detected gamma-ray emissions from known radio pulsars (magenta, cyan) and from known or suspected gamma-ray pulsars identified by NASA's now-defunct Compton Gamma-Ray Observatory (green).
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Fast-Orbiting Pulsar in the Gamma-Ray Sky
Credit: NASA/DOE/Fermi LAT Collaboration/AEI
A map of the gamma-ray sky, created using four years of data collected by NASA's Fermi satellite. The color coding displays the intensity of the detected gamma radiation (low intensity = blue, medium intensity = red, high intensity = yellow). The newly discovered radio pulsar PSR J1311-3430, a strong gamma-ray source, is marked by a green circle.
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Space-Time Observations Find Einstein Still Rules
Credit: NASA/DOE/Fermi LAT Collaboration
This view of the gamma-ray sky constructed from one year of Fermi LAT observations is the best view of the extreme universe to date. The map shows the rate at which the LAT detects gamma rays with energies above 300 million electron volts -- about 120 million times the energy of visible light -- from different sky directions. Brighter colors equal higher rates.
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Brightest Gamma-Ray Flare in Universe Spotted
Credit: NASA/DOE/Fermi LAT Collaboration
Unprecedented flares from the blazar 3C 454.3 in the constellation Pegasus now make it the brightest persistent gamma-ray source in the sky as of Dec. 2009. These all-sky images, which show the numbers of high-energy gamma-rays captured by Fermi's Large Area Telescope on Dec. 3 and Nov. 18, clearly show the change.
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Giant Radio Galaxy Supercharges Big Bang Leftovers
Credit: NASA/DOE/Fermi LAT Collaboration, Capella Observatory
Fermi's Large Area Telescope resolved high-energy gamma-rays from an extended region around the active galaxy Centaurus A. The emission corresponds to million-light-year-wide radio-emitting gas thrown out by the galaxy's supersized black hole. This inset shows an optical/gamma-ray composite of the galaxy and its location on the Fermi one-year sky map.
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Antimatter Particle Beam from Thunderstorm
Credit: NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
This NASA graphic depicts the antimatter particle beam signal observed by NASA's Fermi Gamma-ray space observatory on Dec.14, 2009 from a terrestrial gamma-ray flash over Egypt.
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How Thunderstorms Make Antimatter Particle Beams
Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center/J. Dwyer, Florida Inst. of Technology
This NASA illustration shows how thunderstorms launch particle beams into space.
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Fermi's All-Sky Gamma-Ray Map
Credit: NASA/DOE/Fermi LAT Collaboration)
This all-sky image, constructed from two years of observations by NASA's Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope, shows how the sky appears in gamma-ray light. Brighter colors indicate brighter gamma-ray sources. A diffuse glow fills the sky and is brightest along the plane of our galaxy (middle). Discrete gamma-ray sources include pulsars and supernova remnants within our galaxy as well as distant galaxies powered by supermassive black holes.
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Fermi Gamma-Ray Pie Chart
Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center
Active galaxies called blazars constitute the single largest source class in the second Fermi LAT catalog, but nearly a third of the sources are unassociated with objects at any other wavelength. Their natures are unknown.
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Tycho Supernova Shines Bright in Gamma-Ray Light
Credit: Gamma ray, NASA/DOE/Fermi LAT Collaboration; X-ray, NASA/CXC/SAO; Infrared, NASA/JPL-Caltech; Optical, MPIA, Calar Alto, O. Krause et al. and DSS
Gamma rays detected by NASA's Fermi space telescope show that the remnant of Tycho's supernova shines in the highest-energy form of light. This portrait of the shattered star includes gamma rays (magenta), X-rays (yellow, green, and blue), infrared (red) and optical data.
