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Most people can identify the Big Dipper or the Orion Belt. But can you spot the U.S.S. Enterprise or Incredible Hulk hidden among the stars?
To celebrate the 10th anniversary of its Fermi gamma-ray space telescope, NASA has designed a set of modern constellations built from sources in the sky's gamma rays.
Since July 2008, Fermi's Large Area Telescope (LAT) has been scanning the skies, mapping and measuring gamma-ray sources, the light at the highest energy level in the Universe.
According to NASA, the emissions come from pulsars, nova explosions, supernova explosions debris, giant gamma bubbles located in our own galaxy, as well as supermassive black holes and gamma-ray bursts in d & rsquo; # 39; others.
"In 2015, the number of different sources mapped by the Fermi LAT had been multiplied by 3, or 10 times the number known before the mission," said Elizabeth Ferrara, of the Goddard Space Flight Center, who led the constellation project. in a statement.
Part of the sky with the Golden Gate Bridge, Albert Einstein and the gamma-ray constellations of black widow spiders (via NASA)
"For the very first time, the number of known gamma ray sources was comparable to the number of bright stars. So we thought that a new set of constellations was a great way to illustrate this point, "she added.
These unorthodox forms – 21 in total – represent famous landmarks of countries contributing to Fermi (Vasa, the famous Swedish war obelisk found, Mount Fuji in Japan) and important ideas or scientific tools (the cat of Schrödinger, Albert Einstein, radio telescope).
"Developing these unofficial constellations was a fun way to celebrate a decade of Fermi accomplishments," said Julie McEnery, scientist of the Fermi project at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center. "In one way or another, all gamma ray constellations have a connection to Fermi science."
There are also characters of modern myths, including Antoine de Saint-Exupery The little Prince, the Doctor's TARDIS, Godzilla and his Heat Ray, and the Black Widow Spider (named after a class of pulsars evaporating their companion's stars).
Part of the sky with gamma ray constellations HARDK, Fermi Satellite and TARDIS (via NASA)
But you will not see at the naked eye the sparkling Eiffel Tower or the Saturn V Rocket. That's why NASA has created a web-based interactive interface, presenting the constellations with illustrations by Aurore Simonnet, illustrator at Sonoma State University in California.
Click on a constellation to activate its illustration and name, which includes a link to a page containing more information.
Controls in the lower left corner allow users to switch from visible to gamma light and visualize the traditional constellations above these beginners.
"Fermi continues to work well and we are now preparing a new LAT all sky catalog," boasts Jean Ballet, a member of the Fermi team of the French Atomic Energy Commission. "That will add about 2,000 sources, whose brightness varies a lot, enriching these constellations and animating the sky with high energy."
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