File:437992main CenA optical gamma composite labeled.jpg
Original file (1,963 × 2,570 pixels, file size: 2.52 MB, MIME type: image/jpeg)
Captions
Summary
[edit]Description437992main CenA optical gamma composite labeled.jpg |
English: "This is something we've never seen before in gamma rays," said Teddy Cheung, a Fermi team member at the Naval Research Laboratory in Washington. "Not only do we see the extended radio lobes, but their gamma-ray output is more than ten times greater than their radio output." If gamma-ray telescopes had matured before their radio counterparts, astronomers would have instead classified Cen A as a "gamma-ray galaxy." The gamma-ray output from Cen A's lobes exceeds their radio output by more than ten times. High-energy gamma rays detected by Fermi's Large Area Telescope are depicted as purple in this gamma ray/optical composite of the galaxy. Credit: NASA/DOE/Fermi LAT Collaboration, Capella Observatory. |
Date | |
Source | Fermi Maps an Active Galaxy's 'Smokestack Plumes', url=http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/GLAST/news/smokestack-plumes.html. |
Author | NASA/DOE/Fermi LAT Collaboration, Capella Observatory. |
Permission (Reusing this file) |
Images from NASA are usually free of copyright and are in the PUBLIC Domain. |
"When one of these photons collides with a super-fast particle in the radio lobes, the photon receives such an energy boost, it becomes a gamma ray," explained co-author Lukasz Stawarz at the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency in Sagamihara, Japan.
Although it sounds more like billiards than astrophysics, this process, called inverse Compton scattering, is a common way of making cosmic gamma rays. For Cen A, an especially important aspect is the case where photons from the cosmic microwave background ricochet off of the highest-energy particles in the radio lobes.
In dozens of active galaxies, this process has been shown to produce X-rays. But the Cen A study marks the first case where astronomers have solid evidence that microwave photons can be kicked up to gamma-ray energies.
Licensing
[edit]Public domainPublic domainfalsefalse |
This file is in the public domain in the United States because it was solely created by NASA. NASA copyright policy states that "NASA material is not protected by copyright unless noted". (See Template:PD-USGov, NASA copyright policy page or JPL Image Use Policy.) | ||
Warnings:
|
File history
Click on a date/time to view the file as it appeared at that time.
Date/Time | Thumbnail | Dimensions | User | Comment | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
current | 01:25, 3 May 2011 | 1,963 × 2,570 (2.52 MB) | Marshallsumter (talk | contribs) | {{Information |Description ={{en|1="This is something we've never seen before in gamma rays," said Teddy Cheung, a Fermi team member at the Naval Research Laboratory in Washington. "Not only do we see the extended radio lobes, but their gamma-ray outpu |
You cannot overwrite this file.
File usage on Commons
There are no pages that use this file.
File usage on other wikis
The following other wikis use this file:
- Usage on de.wikipedia.org
- Usage on en.wikiversity.org
- Usage on fr.wikipedia.org
Metadata
This file contains additional information such as Exif metadata which may have been added by the digital camera, scanner, or software program used to create or digitize it. If the file has been modified from its original state, some details such as the timestamp may not fully reflect those of the original file. The timestamp is only as accurate as the clock in the camera, and it may be completely wrong.
Orientation | Normal |
---|---|
Horizontal resolution | 72 dpi |
Vertical resolution | 72 dpi |
Software used | Adobe Photoshop CS3 Windows |
File change date and time | 10:31, 30 March 2010 |
Color space | sRGB |
Image width | 1,963 px |
Image height | 2,570 px |
Date and time of digitizing | 06:31, 30 March 2010 |
Date metadata was last modified | 06:31, 30 March 2010 |