Publication Date:
2019-07-19
Description:
Terrestrial gamma-ray flashes (TGFs) are being observed with the Gamma-ray Burst Monitor (GBM) detectors on Fermi about once every four weeks. These intense millisecond flashes of MeV photons have been observed with four space-borne experiments since their initial discovery by the BATSE-CGRO experiment in the early 1990s. TGFs have extremely hard spectra (harder than GRBs) and photons are seen to extend to over 30 MeV. The GBM-Fermi observations have the highest temporal resolution of any previous TGF observations and time-resolved coarse spectra can be derived. These features will be crucial for testing the leading current model of TGF production: relativistic run-away electron cascades formed in the intense electric fields within thunderstorms.
Keywords:
Astrophysics
Type:
M10-0006
,
2009 Fermi Symposium; Nov 02, 2009 - Nov 05, 2009; Washington, DC; United States
Format:
text
