Friday, May 6, 2011
David J. Thompson, a deputy project scientist for the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope at NASAòÀÙs Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., will wrap up the AAAòÀÙs 2010-11 lecture series Friday, May 6 when he speaks on òÀÜExploring the Extreme Universe with the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope.òÀÝ The free public lecture begins at 6:15 p. m. in the Kaufmann Theater of the AMNH.
òÀÜGamma rays, the most energetic form of light, open a window onto some of the most extreme phenomena in the universe, because gamma rays can only be produced by high-energy processes,òÀÝ Thompson notes. òÀÜThe Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope, launched in June 2008, views the entire sky every three hours, enabling a search for powerful transients like gamma-ray bursts, novae, solar flares and flaring active galactic nuclei, as well as long-term studies including pulsars, binary systems, supernova remnants and searches for predicted sources of gamma rays such as dark matter annihilation.”
Thompson has worked as an astrophysicist at Goddard since 1973. HeòÀÙs a graduate of Johns Hopkins and holds a Ph.D. in physics from the University of Maryland. Thompson has worked in all aspects of observational gamma-ray astrophysics: designing, building, testing and operating balloon and satellite gamma-ray telescopes, and analyzing and interpreting results from those telescopes. In 2009, he participated in a History Channel episode of òÀÜUniverseòÀÝ about pulsars and quasars.
Below is actual video footage taken at the lecture by AAA member Shana Tribiano