Abstract
The Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope, formerly called GLAST, measures the cosmic gamma-ray flux in the energy range 8 keV to > 300 GeV. In addition to breakthrough capabilities in energy coverage and localization, the very large field of view enables observations of 20% of the sky at any instant, and the entire sky on a timescale of a few hours. With its launch in 2008, Fermi opens a new and important window on a wide variety of phenomena, including pulsars, black holes and active galactic nuclei, gamma-ray bursts, supernova remnants and the origins of cosmic rays, and searches for hypothetical new phenomena such as particle dark matter annihilations. A brief overview and selected science highlights from the first four years are provided.
Similar content being viewed by others
References and notes
W. B. Atwood, A. A. Abdo, M. Ackermann, W. Althouse, et al., Astrophys. J., 2009, 697(2): 1071
http://www.slac.stanford.edu/exp/glast/groups/canda/latPerformance.htm
Ackermann, et al., Astrophys. J. Suppl., 2012, 203: 4, arXiv: 1206.1896
C. Meegan, G. Lichti, P. N. Bhat, E. Bissaldi, et al., Astrophys. J., 2009, 702(1): 1071
C. E. Fichtel, R. C. Hartman, D. A. Kniffen, D. J. Thompson, H. Ogelman, M. E. Ozel, T. Tumer, and G. F. Bignami, Astrophys. J., 1975, 198: 163
G. F. Bignami, et al, Space Sci. Instrum., 1975, 1: 245
C. E. Fichtel, et al., 18th Int. Cosmic Ray Conf., Bangalore, India, 22 August to 3 September 1983, Vol. 8: 19
D. J. Thompson, Rep. Prog. Phys., 2008, 71(11): 116901
W. Hofmann, Proceedings of the Workshop Towards a major atmospheric Cherenkov detector, edited by Kruger Park and O. C. de Jager, 1997: 405
J. Holder, R. W. Atkins, H. M. Badran, G. Blaylock, et al., Astropart. Phys., 2006, 25(6): 391
C. Baixeras, et al., Nucl. Phys. B, 2003, 114: 247
H. Kubo, A. Asahara, G. V. Bicknell, R. W. Clay, et al., New Astron. Rev., 2004, 48(5–6): 48
R. Atkins, W. Benbow, D. Berley, M. L. Chen, et al., Nucl. Inst. Meth. A, 2000, 449(3): 478
F. A. Aharonian, J. Buckley, T. Kifune, and G. Sinnis, Rep. Prog. Phys., 2008, 71: 096901
J. Holder, Astropart. Phys., 2012, 39: 61
M. Tavani, G. Barbiellini, A. Argan, F. Boffelli, et al., Astron. Astrophys., 2009, 502(3): 995
P. F. Michelson, W. B. Atwood, and S. Ritz, Rep. Prog. Phys., 2010, 73(7): 074901
Fermi sites: Mission: http://fermi.gsfc.nasa.gov, LAT: http://www-glast.stanford.edu, GBM: http://f64.nsstc.nasa.gov/gbm/
LAT paper site: http://www-glast.stanford.edu/cgibin/pubpub
GBM paper site: http://f64.nsstc.nasa.gov/publications/
For Fermi-related publications by the user community, see http://fermi.gsfc.nasa.gov/ssc/library/pubs/
J. E. McEnery, P. F. Michelson, W. S. Paciesas, and S. Ritz, Fermi Gamma-Ray Space Telescope, in: SPIE Proceedings Vol. 51, Opt. Eng., 2012, 51(1): 011012
A. Abdo, et al., Astropart. Phys., 2009, 32: 193, arXiv: 0904.2226
This is well illustrated by the recent awarding of both the AAS Rossi Prize (to Michelson, Atwood, and the Fermi LAT Team) and the APS Panofsky Prize in Particle Physics (Atwood)
See, e.g., Proceedings of the First GLAST Symposium, AIP Conf. Proc. 921, 2007, edited by S. Ritz, P. F. Michelson, and C. Meegan
S. Ritz, Proceedings of the First GLAST Symposium, AIP Conf. Proc. 921, 2007, edited by S. Ritz, P. F. Michelson, and C. Meegan
http://fermi.gsfc.nasa.gov/science/mtgs/symposia/2012/ and links therein
P. L. Nolan, A. A. Abdo, M. Ackermann, M. Ajello, et al., Astrophys. J. Suppl., 2012, 199(2): 31
NASA ADS http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abstract_service.html finds 220 citations for 2012
The Fermi GBM Gamma-ray Burst Catalog: The First Two Years, W. S. Paciesas, et al., Astrophys. J. Suppl., 2012, 199: 18
Fermi LAT Collaboration, Science, 2010, 329: 817, arXiv: 1008.3912
C. C. Cheung, et al., 2012 Fermi Symposium, arXiv: 1304.3475
A. von Kienlin, D. Gruber, C. Kouveliotou, J. Granot, et al., Astrophys. J., 2012, 755(2): 150
A. J. van der Horst, C. Kouveliotou, N. M. Gorgone, Y. Kaneko, et al., Astrophys. J., 2012, 749(2): 122
L. Lin, C. Kouveliotou, M. G. Baring, A. J. van der Horst, et al., Astrophys. J., 2011, 739(2): 87
A. J. van der Horst, V. Connaughton, C. Kouveliotou, E. Göǧüş et al., Astrophys. J., 2010, 711(1): L1
C. A. Wilson-Hodge, et al., Astrophys. J. Suppl., 2012, 201: 133, arXiv: 1201.3585, and references therein
R. W. Romani, et al., Astrophys. J., 2012, 760: L36, arXiv: 1210.6884
A. Abdo, et al., Astrophys. J. Suppl., 2010, 187: 460
A. Abdo, et al., Astrophys. J. Suppl. (submitted)
P. S. Ray, et al., 2011 Fermi Symposium, arXiv: 1205.3089
G. F. Bignami, P. A. Caraveo, and R. C. Lamb, Astrophys. J., 1983, 272: L9
J. P. Halpern and S. S. Holt, Nature, 1992, 357(6375): 222
D. L. Bertsch, K. T. S. Brazier, C. E. Fichtel, R. C. Hartman, et al., Nature, 1992, 357(6376): 306
J. Dyks and B. Rudak, Astrophys. J., 2003, 598(2): 1201
D. A. Smith, L. Guillemot, F. Camilo, I. Cognard, et al., Astron. Astrophys., 2008, 492(3): 923
W. B. Atwood, M. Ziegler, R. P. Johnson, and B. Baughman, Astrophys. J., 2009, 652(1): L49
H. J. Pletsch, L. Guillemot, H. Fehrmann, B. Allen, et al., Science, 2012, 338(6112): 1314
A. Abdo, M. Ackermann, W. B. Atwood, L. Baldini, et al., Science, 2008, 322(5905): 1218
D. E. Harris and J. A. Roberts, Publ. Astron. Soc. Pac., 1960, 72: 237
A. Abdo, M. Ackermann, M. Ajello, A. Allafort, et al., Astrophys. J., 2010, 713(1): 154
M. E. Roberts, Proceedings of IAUS 291 “Neutron Stars and Pulsars: Challenges and Opportunities after 80 years”, 2012, edited by J. van Leeuwen, arXiv: 1210.6903
R. W. Romani and M. S. Shaw, Astrophys. J., 2011, 743(2): L26
A. Kong, R. H. H. Huang, K. S. Cheng, J. Takata, Y. Yatsu, C. C. Cheung, D. Donato, L. C. C. Lin, J. Kataoka, Y. Takahashi, K. Maeda, C. Y. Hui, and P. H. T. Tam, Astrophys. J., 2012, 747(1): L3
R. W. Romani, Astrophys. J., 2012, 754(2): L25
T. J. Brandt, et al., 2012 Fermi Symposium, http://fermi.gsfc.nasa.gov/science/mtgs/symposia/2012/program/tue/TBrandt.pdf
M. Ackermann, et al., Science, 2013, 339: 807, arXiv: 1302.3307
Astronomer’s Telegrams (http://www.astronomerstelegram.org): AGILE Collaboration (number 2855) and LAT Collaboration (number 2861), September 2010
A. Abdo, M. Ackermann, M. Ajello, A. Allafort, et al., Science, 2011, 331(6018): 739
R. Buehler, J. D. Scargle, R. D. Blandford, L. Baldini, et al., Astrophys. J., 2012, 749(1): 26
C. Wilson-Hodge, et al., Astrophys. J., 2011, 727: L40, arXiv: 1010.2679
E. Striani, M. Tavani, G. Piano, I. Donnarumma, et al., Astrophys. J., 2011, 741(1): L5
E. Aliu, T. Arlen, T. Aune, M. Beilicke, et al., Science, 2011, 334(6052): 69
J. Aleksic, E. A. Alvarez, L. A. Antonelli, P. Antoranz, et al., Astron. Astrophys., 2012, 540: A69
R. Buehler, et al., Rep. Prog. Phys. (in preparation)
R. A. Hulse and J. H. Taylor, Astrophys. J., 1975, 195: L51
See, e.g., Demorest, et al., arXiv: 0902.2968, and http://nanograv.org/index.html, and references therein
X. Fan, M. A. Strauss, D. P. Schneider, R. H. Becker, et al., Astron. J., 2003, 125(4): 125
C. J. Willott, P. Delorme, C. Reylé, L. Albert, J. Bergeron, D. Crampton, X. Delfosse, T. Forveille, J. B. Hutchings, R. J. McLure, A. Omont, and D. Schade, Astron. J., 2010, 139(3): 906
See, e.g., M. Volonteri and M. J. Rees, Astrophys. J., 2005, 633(2): 624
M. C. Begelman, M. Volonteri, and M. J. Rees, Mon. Not. R. Astron. Soc., 2006, 370(1): 289
L. Mayer, S. Kazantzidis, A. Escala, and S. Callegari, Nature, 2010, 466(7310): 1082
See, e.g., G. Kauffmann and M. Haehnelt, Mon. Not. R. Astron. Soc., 2000, 311(3): 576
J. S. B. Wyithe and A. Loeb, Astrophys. J., 2003, 595(2): 614
D. J. Croton, V. Springel, S. D. M. White, G. De Lucia, C. S. Frenk, L. Gao, A. Jenkins, G. Kauffmann, J. F. Navarro, and N. Yoshida, Mon. Not. R. Astron. Soc., 2006, 365(1): 11
A. Abo, et al., Astrophys. J., 2011, 733: L26, arXiv: 1102.0277
M. Ackermann, et al., Science, 2012, 338: 1190, arXiv: 1211.1671
R. D. Blandford and R. L. Znajek, Mon. Not. R. Astron. Soc., 1977, 179: 433
J. C. McKinney, et al., Mon. Not. R. Astron. Soc., 2012, 423: 3083, arXiv: 1201.4163
M. Ackermann, M. Ajello, A. Allafort, E. Antolini, et al., Astrophys. J., 2011, 743(2): 171
M. Ajello, M. S. Shaw, R. W. Romani, C. D. Dermer, L. Costamante, O. G. King, W. Max-Moerbeck, A. Readhead, A. Reimer, J. L. Richards, and M. Stevenson, Astrophys. J., 2012, 751(2): 108
A. Abdo, M. Ackermann, M. Ajello, L. Baldini, et al., Astrophys. J., 2011, 736(2): 131
A. Abdo, M. Ackermann, M. Ajello, W. B. Atwood, et al., Science, 2010, 328(5979): 725
A. Domínguez, et al., Astrophys. J. (in press), arXiv: 1305.2162
A. Chen, L. C. Reyes, and S. Ritz, Astrophys. J., 2004, 608(2): 686
A. Domínguez, et al., Mon. Not. R. Astron. Soc., 2011, 410: 2556 (D11)
M. Salamon, F. Stecker, and O. DeJager, Astrophys. J., 1994, 423: L1
A. Elyiv, A. Neronov, and D. Semikoz, Phys. Rev. D, 2009, 80(2): 023010, and references therein
I. Vovk and A. Neronov, Astrophys. J., 2013, 767: 103, arXiv: 1304.0915v1
http://fermi.gsfc.nasa.gov/ssc/observations/types/grbs/grb_table/
M. Ackermann, K. Asano, W. B. Atwood, M. Axelsson, et al., Astrophys. J., 2010, 716(2): 1178
A. Abdo, M. Ackermann, M. Arimoto, K. Asano, et al., Science, 2009, 323(5922): 1688
A. Abdo, M. Ackermann, M. Ajello, K. Asano, et al., Astrophys. J., 2009, 706(1): L138
M. Ackermann, M. Ajello, K. Asano, M. Axelsson, et al., Astrophys. J., 2011, 729(2): 114
W. S. Paciesas, et al., Astrophys. J. Suppl., 2012, 99: 18, arXiv: 1201.3099
P. Meszaros and M. J. Rees, Astrophys. J., 2010, 715(2): 967
R. C. Gilmore, et al., Exp. Astron., 2013, 35: 413, arXiv: 1201.0010
A. Abdo, M. Ackermann, M. Ajello, W. B. Atwood, et al., Phys. Rev. Lett., 2010, 104(10): 101101
A. Abdo, M. Ackermann, M. Ajello, E. Antolini, et al., Astrophys. J., 2010, 720(1): 435
M. A. Sanchez-Conde, D. Paneque, E. Bloom, F. Prada, and A. Domínguez, Phys. Rev. D, 2009, 79(12): 123511
M. Ajello, et al., J. Cosmol. Astropart. Phys., 2012, 02: 012
G. Amelino-Camelia, J. Ellis, N. E. Mavromatos, D. V. Nanopoulos, and S. Sarkar, Nature, 1998, 393(6687): 763
LAT Collaboration, Nature, 2009, 462: 331
http://fermi.gsfc.nasa.gov/ssc/data/access/lat/Background-Models.html
M. Su, T. Slatyer, and D. P. Finkbeiner, Astrophys. J., 2010, 724(2): 1044
arXiv: 1205.5852 and http://fermi.gsfc.nasa.gov/science/mtgs/symposia/2012/program/thu/DFinkbeiner.pdf
See, e.g., G. Jungman, M. Kamionkowski, and K. Griest, Phys. Rep., 1996, 267(5–6): 195
L. Bergström, Rep. Prog. Phys., 2000, 63(5): 793
G. Bertone, D. Hooper, and J. Silk, Phys. Rep., 2005, 405(5–6): 279, and references therein
T. A. Porter, R. P. Johnson, and P. W. Graham, Annu. Rev. Astron. Astrophys., 2011, 49(1): 156
M. Ackermann, M. Ajello, W. B. Atwood, L. Baldini, et al., Astrophys. J., 2012, 761(2): 91
M. Ackermann, et al., J. Cosmol. Astropart. Phys., 2010, 05: 025
M. Ackermann, A. Albert, L. Baldini, J. Ballet, et al., Astrophys. J., 2012, 747(2): 121
M. Ackermann, M. Ajello, A. Albert, L. Baldini, et al., Phys. Rev. D, 2012, 85(8): 083007
A. Cuoco, A. Sellerholm, J. Conrad, and S. Hannestad, Mon. Not. R. Astron. Soc., 2011, 414(3): 2040
M. Ackermann, M. Ajello, A. Albert, W. B. Atwood, et al., Phys. Rev. Lett., 2011, 107(24): 241302
A. Geringer-Sameth and S. M. Koushiappas, Phys. Rev. Lett., 2011, 107(24): 241303
M. Ackermann, M. Ajello, A. Albert, L. Baldini, et al., Phys. Rev. D, 2012, 86(2): 022002
See, e.g., C. Weniger, J. Cosmol. Astropart. Phys., 2012, 1208: 007. Note that these papers report the feature at around 130 GeV. The data are currently being reprocessed with improved LAT calorimeter calibrations, shifting the scale by a few percent
L. Bergström, et al., J. Cosmol. Astropart. Phys., 2012, 1211: 025, arXiv: 1207.6773
M. Ackermann, M. Ajello, W. B. Atwood, L. Baldini, et al., Phys. Rev. D, 2010, 82(9): 092004
M. Ackermann, M. Ajello, W. B. Atwood, L. Baldini, et al., Phys. Rev. D, 2010, 82(9): 092003
M. Ajello, W. B. Atwood, L. Baldini, G. Barbiellini, et al., Phys. Rev. D, 2011, 84(3): 032007
2012 Fermi Symposium, http://fermi.gsfc.nasa.gov/science/mtgs/symposia/2012/program/mon/NOmodei.pdf
D. Gruber, et al., Astron. Astrophys., 2011, 533: A61, arXiv: 11072399
G. J. Fishman, M. S. Briggs, V. Connaughton, P. N. Bhat, W. S. Paciesas, A. von Kienlin, C. Wilson-Hodge, R. M. Kippen, R. Preece, C. A. Meegan, and J. Greiner, J. Geophys. Res., 2011, 116(A7): A07304, and references therein
M. S. Briggs, et al., Geophys. Res. Lett., 2010, 38: L02808
W. Atwood, et al., 2012 Fermi Symposium, arXiv: 1303.3514
http://fermi.gsfc.nasa.gov/ssc/proposals/altobs/obsmodes.html
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Ritz, S. Some highlights of the first four years of the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope. Front. Phys. 8, 693–713 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11467-013-0401-1
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11467-013-0401-1