A Quasar in the Gamma Ray Sky
Explanation:
The bright object in the center of the false color
image above is quasar
3C279 viewed in
gamma-rays, photons with
more than 40 million times the energy of visible light.
Like all quasars, 3C279 is a nondescript, faint,
starlike object in
the visible sky. Yet,
in June of 1991 a gamma-ray telescope onboard NASA's orbiting
Compton Gamma Ray Observatory unexpectedly
discovered that it was one of the
brightest objects in
the gamma-ray sky.
Shortly after this image was recorded
the quasar faded from view at gamma-ray energies.
Astronomers
are still trying to understand what causes these enigmatic
objects to flare so violently.
Another quasar, 3C273, is faintly
visible above and to the right of center.
Authors & editors:
Robert Nemiroff
(MTU) &
Jerry Bonnell
(USRA)
NASA Web Site Statements, Warnings,
and Disclaimers
NASA Official: Jay Norris.
Specific
rights apply.
A service of:
LHEA at
NASA /
GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.
