NASA's Fermi Catches Thunderstorms Hurling Antimatter Into Space

Space Daily ^ | January 11, 2011 | Staff Writers

[decimon]

Scientists using NASA's Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope have detected beams of antimatter produced above thunderstorms on Earth, a phenomenon never seen before.

Scientists think the antimatter particles were formed in a terrestrial gamma-ray flash (TGF), a brief burst produced inside thunderstorms and shown to be associated with lightning. It is estimated that about 500 TGFs occur daily worldwide, but most go undetected.

"These signals are the first direct evidence that thunderstorms make antimatter particle beams," said Michael Briggs, a member of Fermi's Gamma-ray Burst Monitor (GBM) team at the University of Alabama in Huntsville (UAH). He presented the findings Monday, during a news briefing at the American Astronomical Society meeting in Seattle.

[decimon]

NASA's Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope has detected beams of antimatter launched by thunderstorms. Acting like enormous particle accelerators, the storms can emit gamma-ray flashes, called TGFs, and high-energy electrons and positrons. Scientists now think that most TGFs produce particle beams and antimatter. Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center

[decimon]

Gamma gone ping.

[the invisib1e hand]

Anything to make Islam feel better about itself.

[fruser1]

I think I may be able to harness this type of technology to improve my microwave-oven ray-gun.

[Vaquero]

antimatter ping

[DannyTN]

Can this be weaponized?

[spokeshave]

Bush’s fault

[LRS]

Ejecting the core?

[bolobaby]

I think this is the direct result of the incendiary speech by Sarah Palin and other conservatives. Such vitriol clearly produces the anti-matter.

[UCANSEE2]

Can this be weaponized?

Ask this guy.

[Tonytitan]

He’s the MAN!

[massgopguy]

Teleforce would have been useful at Pearl Harbor.

[ArrogantBustard]

The article doesn’t mention “red sprites” and “blue jets”, phenomena also associated with severe thunderstorms. A relationship amongst those phenomena and TGF would be an interesting study.

[SF_Redux]

Gamma and Gampa always talked about how this stuff would be found out one day

[decimon]

Gamma and Gampa always talked about how this stuff would be found out one day

I trust that neither were sucked off the planet in a thunderstorm.

[Pyro7480]

I read an article a while back that connected one of those kinds of “upper atmosphere lightning” to gamma ray emissions from thunderstorms. It’s plausible that there’s a connection here too.

[Thermalseeker]

“upper atmosphere lightning”

IIRC, static discharges above T-storms are referred to as "sprites".....

[The Comedian]

99-magnetic-bottles-of-dilithium-crystals-on-the-wall,-99-magnetic-bottles-of-dilithium-crystals ping.

"Space Energy/Solar Weirdness" ping.

Ping list dealing with odd space phenomena and solar events.

FReepmail me if you want on or off

The Comedian's "Space Energy/Solar Weirdness" ping list...

Frowning takes 68 muscles.
Smiling takes 6.
Pulling this trigger takes 2.
I'm lazy.

[Lurker]

Wait just a tick. If these things are tossing anti-matter into the sky all willy nilly and all, how come no jet planes have been hit by all this anti-matter flying around up there?

I mean just by sheer accident one plane, somewhere, should disappear in a spectacular explosion every once in a while. Right?

[null and void]

Gamma and Gampa?

I think we might be related through my auntie Matter...