GLAST ( Eng. Gamma-ray Large Area Space Telescope ), subsequently named Eng. Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope ( Russian Fermi Space Gamma-Telescope ) in honor of the physicist Enrico Fermi (since August 26, 2008), is a low-Earth orbit space observatory designed to observe large areas of space in the gamma radiation range. With its help, astronomers study astrophysical and cosmological processes occurring in the active nuclei of galaxies , pulsars and other high-energy sources; They study gamma-ray bursts and are searching for dark matter [1] .
| Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope ( GLAST ) | |
|---|---|
 GLAST satellite art image | |
| Organization |  NASA /  CNES / DLR /  ASI / JAXA /  SNSB |
| Main contractors | General dynamics |
| Wave range | gamma range |
| NSSDC ID | 2008-029A |
| Orbit type | |
| Orbit height | 550 km |
| Circulation period | ≈ 95 minutes |
| Launch date | June 11, 2008 , 16:05 UTC |
| Launch place | Cape Canaveral SK-17B |
| Orbiter | Delta-2 7920-H |
| Duration | 11 years, 2 months |
| Weight | 4303 kg |
| Scientific instruments | |
| gamma telescope |
| gamma ray burst recorder |
| Site | glast.gsfc.nasa.gov |
Content
General information
Fermi (GLAST) was launched into orbit on June 11, 2008 at 16:05 GMT, aboard the Delta-2 7920H launch vehicle . This mission is a joint project of NASA , the US Department of Energy and government agencies in France, Italy, Japan and Sweden [2] .
The objects of Fermi observation are: active galactic nuclei, black holes , neutron stars , pulsars , microquasars , cosmic rays and supernova remnants, the Milky Way galaxy , our solar system , the early Universe , dark matter and other high-energy sources.
One of the most important tasks of this project is the detection of gamma rays arising from the annihilation of dark matter particles. It is possible that the data from GLAST will play a key role in unraveling the mystery of dark matter [3] .
Scientific Instruments
The LAT - gamma telescope is designed for observations in the energy range from several tens of MeV to hundreds of GeV. Sensitivity at 100 MeV is 50 times higher than that of its predecessor, EGRET, of the Compton Observatory . In this case, the LAT will receive much sharper images and better determine the coordinates of the sources [3] .
Fermi GBM is a device for detecting gamma-ray bursts [1] . It is expected that he will record about 200 events per year. This is not much, but the task of simply increasing the number of known bursts is not before it. It is more interesting to understand in detail how gamma-ray bursts shine in the hard gamma range, at energies of the order of GeV. The Compton Observatory saw several very hard bursts, but there were more questions than answers [3] .
Launch
The telescope was launched into Earth’s orbit on June 11, 2008 using the Delta-2 launch vehicle. The rocket launched from the launch site at Cape Canaveral ( Florida ). Twice the launch was delayed. The date was initially selected on May 16, 2008, however, due to technical problems, the launch was postponed until June 5, and then until the eleventh.
The telescope revolves around the earth at an altitude of 565 kilometers. Estimated time of its operation is from five to ten years.
Scientific Results
Gamma Pulsar
The first significant discovery of the observatory was the registration of a gamma pulsar located in the supernova remnant CTA 1 [4] . It is located in the constellation Cepheus at a distance of about 4600 light years from Earth and makes a complete revolution around its axis in 316.86 milliseconds.
GRB 080916C
On September 15, 2008, the Fermi telescope recorded a record burst of gamma radiation, called GRB 080916C [5] . Subsequent observations by astronomers made it possible to calculate the distance to the object, which equals 12 billion light-years, and the flash power. It is believed that such flares occur during the gravitational collapse of an extremely massive star. Calculations showed that the rate of emission of stellar matter was 99.9999 percent of the speed of light .
Fermi Bubbles
One of the most amazing discoveries made by the space telescope was the discovery of giant formations up to 50 thousand light-years in size, located above and below the center of our Galaxy - the Milky Way . The exact nature of these structures is not yet known, however, scientists believe that they arose due to the activity of a supermassive black hole located in the center of our Galaxy. The bladder is estimated to be millions of years old. [6] .
Gamma-ray bursts of new stars
Since 2010 , the telescope has recorded several powerful gamma-ray bursts, the source of which are new stars . The first such object was the V407 Cygni (V407 Cygni) [7] . Scientists believe that such gamma-ray bursts occur in closely related binary systems when matter accretes from one star to another.
See also
- List of spacecraft with x-ray and gamma detectors on board
- Similar missions
- HEAO-3 , launched September 20, 1979 [8] .
- RXTE ( Explorer 69 ), December 30, 1995
- Swift , November 20, 2004
- AGILE , April 23, 2007
Notes
- ↑ 1 2 NASA's GLAST Burst Monitor Team Hard at Work Fine-Tuning Instrument and Operations . NASA (July 28, 2008). Archived on March 14, 2012.
- ↑ An Astro-Particle Physics Partnership Exploring the High Energy Universe - List of funders . SLAC Date of treatment August 9, 2007. Archived March 14, 2012.
- ↑ 1 2 3 Sergey Popov. The most advanced astrophysical detector of gamma radiation has been launched into space // Troitsky Variant . - Troitsk, 2008. - No. 6N (818) . - S. 8 . Archived {a.
- ↑ NASA'S Fermi Telescope Discovers First Gamma-Ray-Only Pulsar (Eng.) , NASA Official Press Release (October 16, 2008).
- ↑ NASA's Fermi Telescope Sees Most Extreme Gamma-Ray Blast Yet , official NASA press release (February 19, 2009).
- ↑ NASA's Fermi Telescope Finds Giant Structure in our Galaxy , NASA Official Press Release (November 9, 2010).
- ↑ NASA's Fermi Space Telescope Reveals New Source of Gamma Rays , NASA Official Press Release (July 31, 2014).
- ↑ NSSDC ID: 1979-082A (English) (unavailable link) . Date of treatment September 26, 2008. Archived March 14, 2012.
Links
- Official NASA GLAST Website
- PF Michelson, WB Atwood, S. Ritz. Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope: high-energy results from the first year // Reports on Progress in Physics. - 2010 .-- Vol. 73, No. 7 . - P. 074901.
- Video in the framework of the project "Around the World with 80 Telescopes" dedicated to the International Year of Astronomy