Fermi Telescope in Action:
Capturing a Gamma-ray Burst
Click to view an animation. (Animation courtesy the LAT
Collaboration.)
by Seth Digel
The gamma-ray burst
detected
by the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope on September 2
was a big one, and included the highest-energy gamma-ray so far measured
from such a burst. When the telescope's Gamma-ray Burst Monitor caught the
bright flash of gamma rays, the Fermi spacecraft rotated so that its main
instrument, the Large Area Telescope, could get a closer look. The animation below shows the LAT's field of view (blue circle) swing over to center on the burst, visible as a bright flash of white near the beginning of the animation.
Each frame in the animation shows an all-sky map centered on the burst, which is indicated by the red cross. The LAT's field of view covers about 20 percent of the entire sky at any given instant. The red and green line segments indicate the viewing direction and roll angle of the LAT. The dark shaded area shows the part of the sky that is blocked by the earth. The yellow circle represents the sun.
Each time step in the animation is 15 seconds. The sequence starts about 2 minutes before the burst. The time in the lower left indicates the number of seconds before or since the event. The white dots in each frame show the locations of the individual gamma rays detected during the previous 15-second interval.
Read more and see the animation...
Seasonal Influenza Vaccinations
Available This Week
by Maria Gherman, SLAC Medical Department
H1N1 is the
flu strain getting the most attention, but it is in addition to the normal seasonal flu that
comes through every winter. Although H1N1 vaccinations are not yet available,
the SLAC Medical Department now has the vaccine for seasonal flu.
Getting vaccinated is the best form of protection against this serious disease,
which can affect people of any age. In an average year, flu is responsible for more than 200,000 hospitalizations and 36,000 deaths in the United States.
There are two types of flu vaccines available, the injectable vaccine, commonly known as the "flu shot," and the nasal flu vaccine, FluMist. FluMist is available
only for healthy persons between the ages of 2 through 49.
In general, it is recommended that anyone who wants to reduce his or her chances of getting the flu should be vaccinated.
Beginning Thursday, September 24, SLAC employees can receive the vaccine in the Medical Department. All SLAC employees are eligible. Please call
the Medical Department (x2281) for an appointment.
WIS Seminar Today: Girlie Men and Manly Girls—Language that Reveals Linguistic Sexism
Please join the Women's
Interchange at SLAC in Panofsky Auditorium today at noon to hear Teri Shugart
talk about linguistic sexism and the power of language in our culture.
Shugart is a lawyer and adjunct professor at University of Santa Clara School of Law.
She is also a frequent speaker and educator on the issues of gender and sexual orientation harassment and discrimination in schools and in the workplace. Teri served as
co-chair and legislative chair of the
Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network Peninsula/South Bay, a two-county chapter of the nation's largest organization working to combat sexual orientation harassment in K-12 schools.
She frequently conducts classes on gender issues for attorneys and educators in the San Francisco Bay Area. She is also author of
"Honoring Gender Differences in Children" and co-author of "Sexual Orientation, Our Children and the Law," a manual distributed throughout California to educators and school district superintendents.
This
seminar is free and open to all.
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