Episode17: Gamma Ray Astronomy

As the most energetic photons, gamma rays are rare, difficult to
observe, require special telescopes & detectors, and not many
of them make it to the surface of the earth anyway. So why is gamma
ray astronomy important? Its not an area of astronomy that amateurs
usually dip even their big toe in and something entirely new for
me. Talking jointly with a Dr Stella Bradbury and Dr Joachim Rose
at the department of Physics was a little scary, but turned out to
be extremely informative. They spoke about their work at many
observatories, including Veritas Array. I spoke to them a couple of
weeks ago and you will hear the reference to the launch of Gamma
Ray Large Area Telescope (GLAST). That launch has been delayed to
June 3rd. For realtime GRB alerts see here.