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Astronomy

We can see clearly now...

Nature volume 428, pages 264–265 (2004)Cite this article

The mystery of the diffuse γ-ray glow that pervades the Milky Way has been solved, thanks to a space telescope with the power to resolve compact γ-ray sources in the Galaxy.

The Milky Way glows brightly at γ-ray wavelengths. Although this glow was discovered more than three decades ago, its origin has been a mystery. Now the Milky Way has been observed at these wavelengths with new clarity, by astronomers using the European Space Agency (ESA) INTEGRAL observatory. In this issue (Nature 428, 293–296; 2004), F. Lebrun et al. report that the soft γ-ray glow is the sum of radiation from previously unresolved point sources, many of them black holes and neutron stars, buried in gas and dust. This discovery points to a future in which soft γ-rays will become a powerful tool for finding black holes in otherwise obscured regions.

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Figure 1: The coded-mask technique.

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  1. Laboratory for High Energy Astrophysics, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, 20771, Maryland, USA

    Nicholas White

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  1. Nicholas White
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White, N. We can see clearly now.... Nature 428, 264–265 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1038/428264a

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