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Article

The New Gamma‐Ray Astronomy

FEB 01, 1998
Nucleosynthesis sites, Galactic black holes, gamma‐ray bursters, blazars—all yield up secrets and surprises when observed with the latest gamma‐ray detectors.
Neil Gehrels
Jacques Paul

Our understanding of the gamma‐ray sky is being revolutionized. Seven years ago, gamma‐ray astronomers knew of only a scattering of very bright sources. Now, thanks to two international observatories, the gamma‐ray sky appears to be teeming with variety—unstable sources that change violently on short time scales, steady sources that glow radioactively and others whose nature we barely understand.

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References

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  6. 6. F. Hoyle, W. A. Fowler, in Quasi‐Stellar Sources and Gravitational Collapse, I. Robinson, A. Schild, E. L. Schucking, eds., U. Chicago P., Chicago (1965), p. 17.

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More about the authors

Neil Gehrels, NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland.

Jacques Paul, Saclay Nuclear Research Center, Gifsur‐Yvette, France.

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This Content Appeared In
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Volume 51, Number 2

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