Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope

2018 News

Dec 21, 2018

GBM Update

Due to the position in the Earth's orbit, solar illumination has caused a few of the GBM NaI detectors to reach their operational temperature limits. To reduce the temperatures and preserve the detector lifetimes, these detectors have been powered off. The thermal situation will naturally improve within approximately a week as the solar illumination changes with the orbit. When that occurs all of the NaI detectors will be turned on again. Until then, some data will be unavailable. Triggering continues to be enabled but with reduced efficiency due to fewer operating detectors.

Nov 29, 2018

NASA's Fermi Traces the History of Starlight Across the Cosmos

Scientists using data from NASA's Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope have measured all the starlight produced over 90 percent of the universe's history. The analysis, which examines the gamma-ray output of distant galaxies, estimates the formation rate of stars and provides a reference for future missions that will explore the still-murky early days of stellar evolution.
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Nov 27, 2018

Pass 8 Data for the LAT Available

The FSSC is pleased to announce the availability of updated Pass 8 data for the LAT. These data files (P8R3) have a residual background that is significantly lower than the previous Pass 8 data (P8R2) and introduce a new event class, which is defined by a set of additional cuts on top of the SOURCE selection. See arXiv:1810.11394 for more details about the P8R3 data and LAT Data Products for more information. New IRFs and isotropic templates for use with the P8R3 data have been released with Fermitools 1.0.0.

Nov 1, 2018

GBM Team Releases GSpec 0.9.1

The Fermi Gamma-ray Burst Monitor Team is pleased to announce the release of GSpec 0.9.1, a first beta release for the Python replacement of RMfit, utilizing the community-standard XSPEC for spectral fitting. GSpec is built on top of the GBM Data Tools, which will be delivered with a full API in a future release. To download the package, please visit https://fermi.gsfc.nasa.gov/ssc/data/analysis/gbm.

Oct 17, 2018

NASA's Fermi Mission Energizes the Sky With Gamma-ray Constellations

Scientists on NASA's Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope mission have devised a set of modern constellations constructed from the sky's brightest gamma-ray sources.
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Oct 16, 2018

A GRB a lot like GW170817

In an archival search, Fermi finds that gamma-ray burst GRB150101B has similarities to GRB 170817A associated with the famous gravitational wave detection of a binary neutron star merger GW170817.
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Oct 15, 2018

Fermitools 1.0.0 Release

The Fermi Science Support Center is pleased to announce the release of Fermitools 1.0.0, the first release of the Fermi ScienceTools data analysis suite available via the Conda package manager. For instructions on how to install the tools, release notes, troubleshooting, error reporting, and other related documentation see the Fermitools Wiki.

Oct 3, 2018

Painting the Sky in Gamma Rays

The Fermi Gamma-Ray Space Telescope and the Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA) proudly present the world premiere of the animated short "Fermi 10x10" and a series of short animations that explore some of the fascinating discoveries made by Fermi through the lens of art.
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Aug 16, 2018

Fermi Symposium Abstract Deadline

The abstract deadline for the Eighth International Fermi Symposium is Aug 24, 2018. This is a hard deadline for any oral contributions. A preliminary block schedule is also now available.
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Jul 12, 2018

NASA's Fermi Traces Source of Cosmic Neutrino to Monster Black Hole

For the first time ever, scientists using NASA's Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope have found the source of a high-energy neutrino from outside our galaxy. This neutrino traveled 3.7 billion years at almost the speed of light before being detected on Earth. This is farther than any other neutrino whose origin scientists can identify.
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Jun 11, 2018

NASA's Fermi Satellite Celebrates 10 Years of Discoveries

On June 11, NASA's Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope celebrates a decade of using gamma rays, the highest-energy form of light in the cosmos, to study black holes, neutron stars, and other extreme cosmic objects and events.
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Apr 03, 2018

Fermi Resumes Science Operations

Both instruments on Fermi have been returned to operational status and are actively collecting science data. For the LAT, this data will be used to monitor performance as the instrument returns to normal operating temperatures. GBM has returned to full functionality.

Mar 27, 2018

Update on Fermi Operations

Fermi was commanded out of sun-point mode earlier today (3/27). It is now oriented at a 50 degree rock angle (towards the northern hemisphere) with respect to the zenith. Operations at a fixed rock angle will continue while spacecraft performance is monitored. We plan to start bringing the instruments back online over the next week or so - GBM first and then the LAT. We will post updates on the status of the observatory as the recovery proceeds.

Mar 20, 2018

Fermi Spacecraft Operational Anomaly

At 5:11 UT on March 16, Fermi encountered an issue with the solar array drive that caused the observatory to go into safe hold. In this mode, the instruments are powered off, and thus science data taking has stopped. Initial investigation suggests that one of the solar panels is stuck.

Investigation into the cause of the anomaly is ongoing and will continue for some time. We are exploring options to resume some science operations with a fixed solar panel which would run while the anomaly investigations are ongoing. We don't anticipate resuming any form of science operations for at least a week.

Mar 16, 2018

Fermi Friday: Behind the Scenes

To understand black holes at the centers of distant galaxies, scientists combine Fermi data with information from other wavebands. By viewing these objects in the radio, we can see how their jets change over time.
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Mar 09, 2018

Fermi Friday: Tech Talk

Scientists monitoring Active Galactic Nuclei need to know when one of them starts to flare. As an all-sky scanning instrument, Fermi is often the first to detect activity. Find out how the data gets to scientists quickly to allow for rapid multi-wavelength observations.
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Mar 02, 2018

Fermi Friday: AGN Month!

What are Active Galacti Nuclei, and why are they so interesting to Fermi scientists? Find out more about these giant, powerful, and numerous gamma-ray objects.
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Feb 23, 2018

Fermi Friday: Art of the Sky

Animation students from the Maryland Institute College of Art found inspiration from Fermi pulsars. Take a look at the animations, as well as the science behind them. As a bonus, check out the Fermi Cake Committee's first cake!
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Feb 15, 2018

New Femi Science Tools Release

The FSSC is pleased to announce the availability of a new version of the Fermi Science Tools, developed jointly with the Large Area Telescope Collaboration and the Gamma-ray Burst Monitor Team. The tools can be downloaded at https://fermi.gsfc.nasa.gov/ssc/data/analysis/software/

Feb 09, 2018

Cycle-11 Guest Investigator Proposals Are Due in 2 Weeks

A reminder: Fermi Cycle-11 Guest Investigator proposals are due on February 23, 2018 at 16:30 EST two weeks from today. Proposals must be prepared according to the guidelines specified in the 2017 ROSES NRA (Appendix D6) and submitted prior to this deadline via the ARK/RPS proposal submission web site. Please refer to additional information provided on the Proposals section of this web site.

Jan 12, 2018

2018 Rossi Prize

Dr. Colleen Wilson-Hodge and the Fermi Gamma-Ray Burst Monitor team were awarded the prestigious 2018 Rossi Prize by the High-Energy Astrophysics Division of the American Astronomical Society for their discovery of gamma rays coincident with a neutron-star merger gravitational wave event, confirming that short gamma-ray bursts are produced by binary neutron-star mergers. The Rossi prize is awarded annually "for a significant contribution to High Energy Astrophysics, with particular emphasis on recent, original work.
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Jan 04, 2018

Preliminary LAT 8-year Point Source List

As a prelude to the forthcoming Fermi LAT 4FGL catalog, a preliminary list of sources (FL8Y) based on 8-years of integration and employing the up-to-date (PASS-8) calibrations and event selections has been made available to the community through the FSSC by the LAT instrument team. This release is primarily intended to support the preparation Cycle-11 Fermi Guest Investigator proposals. We stress its preliminary nature and strongly encourage users to carefully read the accompanying documentation.