Fermi Science Support Center

News Archive

May 20, 2013

Redelivery of GBM data for GRB130427324

A minor data processing error affecting the GBM "CTIME" and "CSPEC" data types was recently identified. This problem was fixed in the processing pipeline on May 16, 2013. The data for the very bright event GRB 130427324 were reprocessed and redelivered on May 16 2013. For all other CTIME and CSPEC data prior to that date, the effect of the incorrect exposure on true count rates calculated from this exposure is expected to be negligible.

May 3, 2013

NASA's Fermi, Swift See 'Shockingly Bright' Burst

A record-setting blast of gamma rays from a dying star in a distant galaxy has wowed astronomers around the world. The eruption, which is classified as a gamma-ray burst, or GRB, and designated GRB 130427A, produced the highest-energy light ever detected from such an event.
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April 30, 2013

The Day NASA's Fermi Dodged a 1.5-ton Bullet

NASA scientists don't often learn that their spacecraft is at risk of crashing into another satellite. But when Julie McEnery, the project scientist for NASA's Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope, checked her email on March 29, 2012, she found herself facing this precise situation.
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February 27, 2013

Fermi's Motion Produces a Study in Spirograph

NASA's Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope orbits our planet every 95 minutes, building up increasingly deeper views of the universe with every circuit. Its wide-eyed Large Area Telescope (LAT) sweeps across the entire sky every three hours, capturing the highest-energy form of light -- gamma rays -- from sources across the universe. These range from supermassive black holes billions of light-years away to intriguing objects in our own galaxy, such as X-ray binaries, supernova remnants and pulsars.
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February 14, 2013

NASA's Fermi Proves Supernova Remnants Produce Cosmic Rays

A new study using observations from NASA's Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope reveals the first clear-cut evidence the expanding debris of exploded stars produces some of the fastest-moving matter in the universe. This discovery is a major step toward understanding the origin of cosmic rays, one of the Fermi mission's primary goals.
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February 6, 2013

2013 Fermi Summer School

The Fermi project is happy to announce the opening of registration for the 2013 Fermi Summer School, which will run from May 28 through June 7 2013. In addition to comprehensive coverage of gamma-ray astrophysics topics, this year's program will include a special emphasis on searches for dark matter and new physics.
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February 6, 2013

Alternative Observing Strategies

The Fermi project and the Fermi Users Group are considering the possible future implementation of alternative observing strategies that might more effectively facilitate specific science objectives such a desire for increased sensitivity to flaring sources in the northern hemisphere, or monitoring sources near the galactic center. These are only a few among many possibilities and community input is sought. Please refer to the Alternative Observing Strategies web page for more information.

Jan 31, 2013

FSSC Flare Database

The Fermi Science Support center is pleased to announce a new resource which is a compilation of flares derived from LAT aperture photometry light curves. A flare-search algorithm searches for four standard deviation increases in the count rate in all of the 2FGL sources whenever the light curves are updated (nominally on a one-week timescale). Any sources found to be in a flaring state will be shown on a special page. Please be advised that of the caveats associated with the aperture photometry analysis also pertain to the flaring sources analysis.
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Jan 07, 2013

Galaxy's Gamma-Ray Flares Erupted Far From its Black Hole

In 2011, a months-long blast of energy launched by an enormous black hole almost 11 billion years ago swept past Earth. Using a combination of data from NASA's Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope and the National Science Foundation's Very Long Baseline Array (VLBA), the world's largest radio telescope, astronomers have zeroed in on the source of this ancient outburst.
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Jan 2, 2013

Fermi Cycle-6 Proposal Deadline

The deadline for proposals to participate in the Fermi Cycle-6 Guest Investigator program is January 18, 2013 at 4:30 PM EST. Proposals should be submitted through the ARK/RPS remote proposal submission system. Further details are available in the Fermi Amendment to the 2012 ROSES NRA, and in the "Proposals" web page.

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