gamma ray

noun

, Physics.

1. a photon of penetrating electromagnetic radiation gamma radiation 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

Along its path, it emitted X-rays and even higher energy gamma rays.

From Science News For Students

The Milky Way glows with a gamma ray haze, with energies vastly exceeding anything physicists can produce on Earth, according to a new paper.

From Science News

Then, surprisingly, the Fermi telescope caught gamma rays with energies higher than a gigaelectronvolt arriving four minutes after the initial blast.

From Science News

Follow-up observations in X-ray, visible and infrared wavelengths of light showed that the gamma rays were accompanied by a characteristic glow called a kilonova.

From Science News

In other words, we don’t know what exactly happens inside a magnetar that would produce FRBs along with associated x rays or gamma rays.

From MIT Technology Review

Well, maybe it was a gamma-ray burst, or maybe it was something else, cautioned some others.

From The Daily Beast

A source of neutrons to activate the material and a gamma-ray spectrometer to measure the radiation from the material afterwards.

From Project Gutenberg

Then you place each card, in turn, on a holder close to the gamma-ray detector for a period of 10 minutes.

From Project Gutenberg

Gamma-ray spectra are collected all day, first from a sample, then from its accompanying standard.

From Project Gutenberg

It has been shown that data collected by high-resolution gamma-ray spectrometers can be “fed” directly to a computer.

From Project Gutenberg

A typical gamma-ray spectrum looks like the one in the figure on the next page.

From Project Gutenberg