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Fermi Gamma-ray Telescope Trivia Questions

How much do you really know about Fermi Gamma-ray Telescope? Below are 8 true or false statements. Click each one to reveal the answer and explanation.

1.

The Fermi telescope was launched in 2008 aboard a Space Shuttle.

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Easy
✗ FALSE

Fermi launched on June 11, 2008, aboard a Delta II rocket from Cape Canaveral, not a Space Shuttle.

2.

Fermi can detect gamma rays from distant galaxies billions of light-years away.

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Easy
✓ TRUE

Fermi regularly observes gamma-ray bursts and active galactic nuclei from billions of light-years away, probing the early universe.

3.

Fermi helped create the most detailed map of the Milky Way in gamma-ray light.

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Easy
✓ TRUE

Fermi's all-sky survey produced the highest-resolution gamma-ray map of the Milky Way, revealing pulsars, supernova remnants, and diffuse emission.

4.

Fermi discovered the first gamma-ray burst from a supernova explosion.

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Medium
✗ FALSE

The first gamma-ray burst linked to a supernova was detected in 1998 by satellites like BeppoSAX and Compton GRO, well before Fermi's 2008 launch. Fermi did not make that first discovery.

5.

Fermi was originally designed to hunt for dark matter particles annihilating in space.

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Medium
✗ FALSE

Fermi is a general-purpose gamma-ray observatory designed to study energetic cosmic phenomena like active galactic nuclei, pulsars, and gamma-ray bursts. Searching for dark matter annihilation is one of many secondary science goals, not its original design purpose.

6.

Fermi orbits Earth in a low-inclination orbit to avoid the Van Allen belts.

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Hard
✓ TRUE

Fermi operates in a low-Earth orbit at about 565 km altitude with a 25.6-degree inclination, minimizing background radiation from the belts.

7.

Fermi's main instrument, LAT, can see gamma rays with energies up to 300 GeV.

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Hard
✗ FALSE

The LAT detects gamma rays from about 20 MeV to over 300 GeV, so the upper energy limit is higher than 300 GeV.

8.

The Fermi Gamma-ray Telescope can detect gamma rays from thunderstorms on Earth.

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Hard
✓ TRUE

Fermi has observed terrestrial gamma-ray flashes (TGFs) produced by lightning, making it a tool for atmospheric science as well as astronomy.

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