June 10, 2013 - The Red Bull Part of the Spectrum
The Red Bull Part of the Spectrum Among the most exotic objects in the universe are those that generate high-energy gamma rays—supermassive black holes, merging neutron stars, streams of hot gas moving close to the speed of light, and others. Gamma rays are the most energetic form of radiation, billions of times more energetic than visible light, and to observe them requires a telescope sensitive to this part of the electromagnetic spectrum. Such a telescope is the Fermi Gamma-Ray Space Telescope (formerly GLAST), which was launched five years ago this week. Fermi recently detected an enormous high-energy double-lobed structure, nearly 50,000 light-years from end to end, emanating from the center of our Milky Way Galaxy, which may be related to the supermassive black hole located there.
Image credit: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center
Weekly Calendar
June 10-16, 2013
Holidays - Sky Events - Space History
Monday 10
Venus 5° north of Moon
Mercury 6° north of Moon
1985: Vega 1 deploys lander and balloon on Venus
2003: Mars rover Spirit launched
Tuesday 11
2008: Fermi Gamma-Ray Telescope launched
2013: Shenzhou 10 launched, China's fifth human spaceflight mission
Wednesday 12
Mercury at greatest elongation (24° E)
1967: Venera 4 launched
Thursday 13
Juno appears stationary
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
Friday 14
Flag Day
1967: Mariner 5 launched
1975: Venera 10 launched
1985: Vega 2 deploys lander and balloon on Venus
Saturday 15
1971: First Titan III-D rocket launch
2010: Soyuz TMA-19 launched carrying ISS Expedition 24/25 crew
Sunday 16
Father's Day
First Quarter Moon 1:24 PM ET
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