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A gamma ray, also known as gamma radiation (symbol γ), is a penetrating form of electromagnetic radiation arising from high energy interactions like the radioactive decay of atomic nuclei or astronomical events like solar flares. It consists of the shortest wavelength electromagnetic waves, typically shorter than those of X-rays.
Gamma rays, at the high-frequency end of the spectrum, have the highest photon energies and the shortest wavelengths—much smaller than an atomic nucleus. Gamma rays, X-rays, and extreme ultraviolet rays are called ionizing radiation because their high photon energy is able to ionize atoms, causing chemical reactions. Longer-wavelength ...
Displayed background gamma radiation level is 9.8 μR/h (0.82 mSv/a) This is very close to the world average background radiation of 0.87 mSv/a from cosmic and terrestrial sources. Cloud chambers used by early researchers first detected cosmic rays and other background radiation. They can be used to visualize the background radiation
The effect of non-ionizing radiation on chemical systems and living tissue is primarily simply heating, through the combined energy transfer of many photons. In contrast, high frequency ultraviolet, X-rays and gamma rays are ionizing – individual photons of such high frequency have enough energy to ionize molecules or break chemical bonds.
Artist's conception of gamma-ray flash and related phenomena. The red dots show some of the ~500 terrestrial gamma-ray flashes daily detected by the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope through 2010. A terrestrial gamma-ray flash (TGF), also known as dark lightning, is a burst of gamma rays produced in Earth's atmosphere.
This gamma-ray burst, researchers said on Tuesday, caused a significant disturbance in Earth's ionosphere, a layer of the planet's upper atmosphere that contains electrically charge.
Mean free path of gamma rays (very high energy and ultra high energy) based on photon energy (expressed in electron-volts on horizontal axis). Mean free path is expressed on a log scale of megaparsecs (i.e. "–1" indicates 0.1 megaparsecs, "3" equals 1,000 megaparsecs, etc.).
The Pound–Rebka experiment monitored frequency shifts in gamma rays as they rose and fell in the gravitational field of the Earth. The experiment tested Albert Einstein 's 1907 and 1911 predictions, based on the equivalence principle , that photons would gain energy when descending a gravitational potential, and would lose energy when rising ...