Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope

A NASA space observatory launched in 2008 to study the universe in gamma rays. Its Large Area Telescope and Gamma-ray Burst Monitor survey different parts of the gamma-ray sky.

Large Area Telescope: A pair-conversion gamma-ray detector aboard Fermi that surveys the sky at energies from about 20 MeV to above 300 GeV. It maps the gamma-ray sky and detects most of Fermi's sources.
Gamma-ray burst: A brief, exceptionally luminous flash of gamma rays from a distant cosmic event. Fermi measures their prompt emission and, with its instruments, broad energy behavior.
Compton Gamma Ray Observatory: A NASA space observatory launched in 1991 that studied the sky across a broad range of gamma-ray energies. Compton established the mission lineage that Fermi extended with greater sensitivity and resolution.
Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope source catalogs: Published lists of gamma-ray sources detected and characterized by Fermi's Large Area Telescope. The catalogs turn repeated observations into a reference map of the high-energy sky.
Swift Observatory: A NASA observatory designed to detect gamma-ray bursts and rapidly observe their afterglows in X-rays and ultraviolet light. Swift rapidly follows bursts, while Fermi continuously surveys a much broader gamma-ray sky.
Gamma-ray Burst Monitor: An instrument aboard Fermi that detects transient X-ray and gamma-ray events across nearly the whole unocculted sky. It catches bursts and other brief events outside the Large Area Telescope's strongest range.
Pulsar: A rotating neutron star whose beams of radiation produce periodic signals as they sweep across Earth. Fermi's gamma-ray survey revealed many pulsars, including ones faint at radio wavelengths.
Explorer program: A NASA program of relatively focused scientific satellite missions, including the Small Explorer series. Fermi was selected as a NASA mission through the Explorer program.
Fermi bubbles: Two enormous lobes of gamma-ray emission extending above and below the Milky Way's central region. Fermi data revealed these structures, which point to energetic activity in the Galactic center.
Imaging Atmospheric Cherenkov Telescope: A ground-based telescope that images brief flashes of Cherenkov light from particle showers initiated by very-high-energy gamma rays. Ground instruments reach higher energies but observe limited sky areas and require suitable atmospheric conditions.

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