Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope

Monitoring the Sun with the Large Area Telescope

Nicola Omodei
Nicola Omodei on behalf of the Fermi LAT Collaboration

Abstract:

Every orbit the Sun crosses the field of view of the LAT for approximately twenty minutes, making Fermi a valuable resource to monitor high-energy gamma-ray radiation during solar flares. Fluxes and upper limits (>100MeV) are derived in near real time and are made accessible through public websites. We present preliminary comparisons between Pass 7 and Pass 8 data, showing that, thanks to increased effective area, to improved spatial resolution, and to new event classification, the new Pass 8 data enhance the capability of the LAT to observe solar flares.