How to Make a Gamma Ray
December 13, 2011
The gamma-ray emission from Tycho’s supernova remnant can be explained by pion production. A proton traveling close to the speed of light strikes a slower-moving proton. Their interaction creates an unstable particle — a pion — with only 14 percent of the proton’s mass. In 10 millionths of a billionth of a second, the pion decays into a pair of gamma rays. Credit: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center
Topics:
Nuclear physics, Supernovae, Radiation, Space Flight Center, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Pion, Particle decay, Mesons, Particle physics, Gamma ray, Supernova
