Video: NASA releases stunning time-lapse footage of gamma-ray sky
NASA’s Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope's time-lapse tour of the dynamic high-energy sky
Scientists have compiled a captivating time-lapse movie using 14 years of data from NASA's Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope. The footage, compiled by Seth Digel, a senior staff scientist at SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, shows the Sun traversing the celestial expanse against a backdrop of high-energy sources from both our Milky Way galaxy and beyond.
"The bright, steady gamma-ray glow of the Milky Way is interspersed with intense, days-long flares emanating from near-light-speed jets fueled by supermassive black holes in distant galaxy cores," Digel said.
These spectacular eruptions, visible across the sky, occurred millions to billions of years ago, with their light only now reaching Fermi's sensors.
Gamma rays, the most energetic form of light, take centre stage in the movie. It shows the intensities above 200 million electron volts detected by Fermi's Large Area Telescope between August 2008 and August 2022.
For context, visible light ranges between 2 and 3 electron volts, and brighter colours denote locations with more potent gamma-ray sources.
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What exactly is the time-lapse showing?
The time-lapse presents two views of the sky.
The first, a rectangular view, shows the entire sky with the Milky Way's central plane as the focal point. This area glows in gamma rays produced by cosmic rays colliding with interstellar gas and starlight, revealing various sources, including neutron stars and supernova remnants.
The second view, centred on our galaxy's poles, shows distant galaxies, particularly blazars, each hosting a central black hole with a mass exceeding a million suns.
But where are the gamma-ray bursts?
Despite the awe-inspiring display, the time-lapse doesn't capture shorter events like gamma-ray bursts, the universe's most powerful explosions. The limitation is due to data processing spanning several days for image refinement.
About Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope
The Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope contributes to the study of the intersection between astrophysics and particle physics. It is managed by Goddard Space Flight Center and developed in partnership with the US Department of Energy.
(With inputs from agencies)