Gamma

On 27 December 2004 the European Space Agency's Integral Gamma-Ray Observatory was hit by the strongest flux of gamma rays ever measured by any spacecraft. Read More

The Bad Astronomer writes "Five years ago today (December 27, 2004), a vast wave of high-energy gamma and X-rays washed over the Earth , blinding satellites and partially ionizing the Earth's atmosphere. The culprit was a superflare from the magnetar SGR 1806-20, located 50,000 light years away. The energy released was mind-numbing: in one-fifth of a second, this supercharged magnetic neutron star blasted out as much energy as the Sun does in 250,000 years!" Read More

A professional honor society of women educators is donating North Carolina flags to each fourth-grade class in Wayne County Public Schools. Read More

That large storms can produce gamma rays isn't news, but the surprise - and that's "Surprise" with a capital "Antimatter Annihilating Tiny Bits Of The Atmosphere In The Most Energetic Reaction Known To Science" - was that some of the Terrestrial Gamma Flashes (TGFs) were of the exact energy level which could only be produced by positron annihilation: anti-electrons appearing, meeting and electron, and exploding. Read More