Joint press release INFN-ASI-INAF. The 10th birthday for the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope, the NASA satellite operating in the field of high energy astrophysics, dedicated to detecting gamma-rays. Fermi is a NASA mission which counts on a fundamental Italian involvement, with the contributions of the Italian Space Agency (ASI), INFN and the National Institute of Astrophysics (INAF). In the ten years of its activity, the telescope has produced important scientific results, rewarded with prestigious international recognition. One of the main instruments on board the satellite, the Large Area Telescope (LAT), counts on an important Italian contribution. The LAT analyses the sky every three hours and has observed more than 5,000 individual sources of gamma rays, including an event known as GRB 130427A, the most powerful burst of gamma-rays ever detected by the scientific community. With the Gamma-ray Burst Monitor (GBM), the secondary instrument of Fermi, the burst of gamma-rays was observed on 17 August 2017, produced with the gravitational wave that was detected by the LIGO and VIRGO observatories, emitted by the fusion of two neutron stars. Fermi has been awarded, on no less than four occasions, the Bruno Rossi Prize from the High Energy Astrophysics Division, the most sought after honour in the field of high energy astrophysics, which is awarded in recognition of results of major significance.
11 June 2018
