gamma ray

nounPhysics.

a photon of penetrating electromagnetic radiation (gamma radiation ) emitted from an atomic nucleus.
a photon emitted by an electron as a result of internal conversion.

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

Origin of gamma ray

First recorded in 1900–05

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Along its path, it emitted X-rays and even higher energy gamma rays.
Exploding neutron star proves to be energy standout of the cosmos | Lisa Grossman | February 12, 2021 | 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.
The Milky Way’s newfound high-energy glow hints at the secrets of cosmic rays | Emily Conover | February 2, 2021 | Science News
Then, surprisingly, the Fermi telescope caught gamma rays with energies higher than a gigaelectronvolt arriving four minutes after the initial blast.
The first magnetar flare detected from another galaxy was tracked to its home | Lisa Grossman | January 19, 2021 | 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.
Astronomers spotted colliding neutron stars that may have formed a magnetar | Lisa Grossman | December 1, 2020 | 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.
We just found a source for one of the most mysterious phenomena in astronomy | Neel Patel | November 4, 2020 | MIT Technology Review

Well, maybe it was a gamma-ray burst, or maybe it was something else, cautioned some others.
The Gamma-Ray Burst That Wasn’t | Matthew R. Francis | June 1, 2014 | THE DAILY BEAST
A source of neutrons to activate the material and a gamma-ray spectrometer to measure the radiation from the material afterwards.
The Atomic Fingerprint | Bernard Keisch
Then you place each card, in turn, on a holder close to the gamma-ray detector for a period of 10 minutes.
The Atomic Fingerprint | Bernard Keisch
Gamma-ray spectra are collected all day, first from a sample, then from its accompanying standard.
The Atomic Fingerprint | Bernard Keisch
It has been shown that data collected by high-resolution gamma-ray spectrometers can be “fed” directly to a computer.
The Atomic Fingerprint | Bernard Keisch
A typical gamma-ray spectrum looks like the one in the figure on the next page.
The Atomic Fingerprint | Bernard Keisch

gamma ray

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. See more at radioactive decay.

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