Latest Enrico Fermi Stories

During its first year of operations, NASA's Fermi Gamma Ray Space Telescope mapped the extreme sky with unprecedented resolution and sensitivity.It captured more than 1,000 discrete sources of gamma rays -- the highest-energy form of light. Capping these achievements was a measurement that provided rare experimental evidence about the very structure of space and time, unified as space-time in Einstein's theories."Physicists would like to replace Einstein's vision of gravity -- as expressed in...

NASA will hold a news teleconference at 2 p.m. EDT on Wednesday, Oct. 28, to discuss the first-year science results from the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope. This event replaces the originally scheduled Oct. 29 media conference at NASA Headquarters in Washington.Fermi studies gamma rays, the highest-energy form of light. Findings discussed will include measurements relevant to the search for new theories of gravity.The panelists are:- Jon Morse, director, Astrophysics Division, NASA...

NASA's Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope -- able to identify pulsars by gamma-ray emissions -- has provided data for two studies, U.S. officials said. International teams of astronomers say they've analyzed gamma-rays from two dozen pulsars, including 16 discovered by Fermi. A pulsar is the rapidly spinning and highly magnetized core left after a massive star explodes, NASA said. Since the demise of the Compton Gamma Ray Observatory a decade ago, we've wondered about the nature of unidentified...

A new class of pulsars detected by NASA's Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope is solving the mystery of previously unidentified gamma-ray sources and helping scientists understand the mechanisms behind pulsar emissions.A study to be published by an international team of scientists in the July 2 edition of Science Express describes 16 pulsars discovered by Fermi based on their pulsed emissions of high-energy gamma rays. A pulsar is a rapidly spinning neutron star, the dense core left behind after...

Since its launch last June, NASA's Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope has discovered a new class of pulsars, probed gamma-ray bursts and watched flaring jets in galaxies billions of light-years away. Today at the American Physical Society meeting in Denver, Colo., Fermi scientists revealed new details about high-energy particles implicated in a nearby cosmic mystery."Fermi's Large Area Telescope is a state-of-the-art gamma-ray detector, but it's also a terrific tool for investigating the...

GREENBELT, Md., March 11 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- A new map combining nearly three months of data from NASA's Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope is giving astronomers an unprecedented look at the high-energy cosmos. To Fermi's eyes, the universe is ablaze with gamma rays from sources ranging from within the solar system to galaxies billions of light-years away. (Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20081007/38461LOGO) "Fermi has given us a deeper and better-resolved view of the...

WASHINGTON, Feb. 19 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The first gamma-ray burst to be seen in high-resolution from NASA's Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope is one for the record books. The blast had the greatest total energy, the fastest motions and the highest-energy initial emissions ever seen. (Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20081007/38461LOGO) "We were waiting for this one," said Peter Michelson, the principal investigator on Fermi's Large Area Telescope at Stanford University....

NEWPORT, Mich., Feb. 3 /PRNewswire/ -- Detroit Edison's Fermi 2 Power Plant produced 10 million megawatt hours (MWh) of electricity in 2008, setting a plant record. The plant's previous best year for generations was 1999, when it produced 9.9 million MWh. Jack M. Davis, senior vice president and chief nuclear officer, said the record run reflects the skill and commitment of the men and women who operate and maintain the plant. "To achieve this milestone requires a full team...

GREENBELT, Md., Feb. 2 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Astrophysicist Dr. Neil Gehrels of NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., has been awarded the Henry Draper Medal by the National Academy of Sciences, Washington. (Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20081007/38461LOGO) The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) will honor 18 individuals in 2009 with awards recognizing extraordinary scientific achievements in the areas of biology, chemistry, geology, astronomy, social...

Scientists at the Fermilab in northern Illinois are stumped as to why Google Maps has placed them 15 miles from their actual location west of Chicago. The Department of Energy's Fermi National Accelerator Lab has always been in Batavia, Ill., so it came a surprise when the popular Internet mapping sight located the facility out on Route 47. The Department of Energy doesn't own land out there, lab spokesman Kurt Riesselmann told the Kane County (Ill.) Chronicle. I don't know what it is,...