No Obvious Objects Produce Gamma Rays

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SUMMARY

The discussion centers on the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope's observations of gamma rays originating from regions in the sky devoid of identifiable sources. David Thompson, Fermi Deputy Project Scientist, emphasizes the ongoing mission's goal to explore various hypotheses, including the potential for dark matter. Participants express concern over the misleading interpretation of the discussion title, clarifying that the actual statement pertains to the inability to determine the origins of certain gamma rays rather than a lack of known astrophysical sources.

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http://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2011/18oct_600mysteries/

"Fermi sees gamma rays coming from directions in the sky where there are no obvious objects likely to produce gamma rays," says David Thompson, Fermi Deputy Project Scientist from Goddard Space Flight Center.

"Of course we're hoping for something really exotic like dark matter, but we have to look first at all the other options," says Thompson. "Fermi is an ongoing mission. We'll continue to search for answers to these puzzles and perhaps turn up even more surprises."


Respectfully submitted,
Steve
 
Astronomy news on Phys.org
Your thread title alters the meaning of what was said drastically. I would interpret your phrase, "no obvious objects produce gamma rays," to mean, "we can think of anything astrophysical that would be a source of gamma rays." That's not true.

What they were actually saying was, "sometimes we see gamma rays coming from places in the sky where there is no sign of any source that is emitting them." In other words, "we can't figure where these particular gamma rays are coming from."
 
cepheid said:
Your thread title alters the meaning of what was said drastically. I would interpret your phrase, "no obvious objects produce gamma rays," to mean, "we can think of anything astrophysical that would be a source of gamma rays." That's not true.

What they were actually saying was, "sometimes we see gamma rays coming from places in the sky where there is no sign of any source that is emitting them." In other words, "we can't figure where these particular gamma rays are coming from."

Agreed. I thought the same thing after I clicked into the thread. Very misleading.
 
Kronos5253 said:
Agreed. I thought the same thing after I clicked into the thread. Very misleading.

Agreed. The title needs needs some tweaking.

Respectfully, Steve
 

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