NASA’s Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope

Einstein@Home helps researchers confirm ‘black widow’ pulsar in binary system

5 February 2021 Astronomy Now

Astronomers confirm a rapidly spinning pulsar in an unusual binary system using a network of home computers in a citizen science initiative.

Researchers find gas cloud pulsing in synch with distant microquasar

21 August 2020 Astronomy Now

Researchers find otherwise inconspicuous gas cloud pulsing in harmony with a distant black hole, suggesting a direct connection.

Counting all the photons in the universe (spoiler alert: it’s a big number)

3 December 2018 Astronomy Now

Studying interactions between extragalactic light and gamma rays emitted by blazars has allowed astronomers to calculate how much light has been emitted across the age of the cosmos.

Record-breaking extragalactic gamma-ray binary found

30 September 2016 Astronomy Now

Using data from NASA’s Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope and other facilities, an international team has found the first gamma-ray binary in another galaxy and the most luminous one ever seen. The dual-star system, dubbed LMC P3, contains a massive star and a crushed stellar core that interact to produce a cyclic flood of gamma rays.

Fermi space telescope expands its search for dark matter

14 August 2016 Astronomy Now

Dark matter, the mysterious substance that constitutes most of the material universe, remains as elusive as ever. Although experiments on the ground and in space have yet to find a trace of dark matter, six or more years of data from NASA’s Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope has broadened the mission’s dark matter hunt using some novel approaches.

Gamma-ray space telescope poised to pin down gravitational wave sources

19 April 2016 Astronomy Now

On 14 September 2015, gravitational waves produced by a pair of merging black holes gently rattled space-time in the vicinity of Earth. Less than half a second later, NASA’s Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope picked up a brief, weak burst of high-energy light consistent with the same part of the sky. Analysis of this burst suggests that the events are connected.

NASA’s Fermi satellite detects first gamma-ray pulsar in another galaxy

13 November 2015 Astronomy Now

Researchers using NASA’s Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope have discovered the first gamma-ray pulsar in a galaxy other than our own. Known as PSR J0540-6919, the object sets a new record for the most luminous gamma-ray pulsar known. The pulsar lies in the outskirts of the Tarantula Nebula in the Large Magellanic Cloud, a small galaxy that is located 163,000 light-years away.

Stellar fireworks predicted during rare pulsar encounter in 2018

6 July 2015 Astronomy Now

Astronomers are expecting high-energy explosions when pulsar J2032 swings close by its massive companion star in early 2018. The pulsar will plunge through a disc of gas and dust surrounding the star, triggering cosmic fireworks from radio wavelengths to the highest-energy gamma rays detectable.