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What Is the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope? (Grades K-4)

This article is for students grades K-4.

NASA’s Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope is a satellite in space. It studies gamma rays, which are a special kind of light that people cannot see. People only see a very small part of the light that exists. There is much more that we cannot see.

What Are Gamma Rays?

Gamma rays have a lot of energy. They have more energy than any other light. They have more than 1 billion times the energy of the light people can see.

That much energy could hurt people on Earth. Earth’s atmosphere protects people from gamma rays. It stops most gamma rays from reaching the ground.

Gamma rays are created in space. Scientists want to learn more about the creation of gamma rays in space. So NASA sent the Fermi telescope into space to study them. Fermi is helping NASA learn about gamma rays.

Spectrum of waves from wide radio waves to narrow Gamma Ray

How Does Fermi Work?

The Fermi telescope has two main tools. It has a large telescope that finds gamma rays.

Why Is NASA Studying Gamma Rays?

Gamma rays are mysterious. They have so much energy that they are hard to find. Special instruments have to be built to study them. NASA studies them to learn more about the universe. Gamma rays help NASA learn about the places they come from. NASA can learn more about black holes and exploding stars by studying gamma rays.

It also has a tool that looks at quick bursts of gamma rays. Most of the places where gamma rays are made are a mystery. Scientists do not know what causes gamma rays to form. Scientists hope Fermi will help them solve that mystery.

Fermi sends information to scientists on Earth. Scientists use it to make pictures of the places Fermi studies.

What Is NASA Learning From Fermi?

Fermi was launched June 11, 2008. Scientists hope to use the telescope until 2018.

The telescope was named after Enrico Fermi. He was a scientist. Enrico Fermi studied energy very similar to gamma rays.

The Fermi telescope helps NASA learn more about Enrico Fermi’s ideas. With the Fermi telescope, NASA is learning more about the universe almost every day.

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