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Elizabeth Cocking

Did you know? Gamma Rays & Gamma Ray Bursts.

Blamed for turning Bruce Banner into the Incredible Hulk, Gamma Rays and Gamma Ray Bursts are the most energetic and luminous electromagnetic events since the Big Bang.

There is more energy released in a few short seconds of a Gamma Ray Burst than will be released by the Sun in its entire lifetime.

Gamma rays have the smallest wavelengths and the most energy of any wave in the electromagnetic spectrum

The name “gamma rays” came from the New Zealand born British physicist Ernest Rutherford.

The highest energy Gamma Ray Burst ever with an energy of at least 94 billion electron volts was detected on 27th April 2013. The X-ray afterglow of the burst was so bright that the Swift Space Observatory was able to observe it for the next six months. The image in this blog is an illustration of Hubble’s observations .Credits: NASA, ESA and M. Kornmesser.

Despite their immense power gamma rays can have medical applications. A medical device known as the gamma knife can kill tumors by aiming gamma rays at a patient's brain.

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