gamma ray

noun

Physics.

1. a photon of penetrating electromagnetic radiation gamma radiation emitted from an atomic nucleus.

2. a photon emitted by an electron as a result of internal conversion.

3. electromagnetic radiation with wavelengths shorter than approximately one tenth of a nanometer.

gamma ray

1. A stream of high-energy electromagnetic radiation given off by an atomic nucleus undergoing radioactive decay. Because the wavelengths of gamma rays are shorter than those of x-rays, gamma rays have greater energy and penetrating power than x-rays. Gamma rays are emitted by pulsars, quasars, and radio galaxies but cannot penetrate the Earth's atmosphere.

2. See more at radioactive decay

Word History and Origins

Origin of gamma ray¹

First recorded in 1900–05

Example Sentences

The simulations also predict that these magnetic processes produce bursts of gamma rays during black hole formation.

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The team's results, published on November 3 in PNAS, could help solve a major mystery about the Universe's missing gamma rays and its vast, invisible magnetic fields.

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New findings suggest that dark matter could once again be the missing piece in one of astronomy's longest-running puzzles: the strange excess of gamma rays glowing from the Milky Way's core.

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For years, astronomers have puzzled over a faint, widespread glow of gamma rays near the Milky Way's center.

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Although humans can't see them, radio waves are a form of light in the sense that they are part of the electromagnetic spectrum, which also includes X-rays and gamma rays.

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