Galactic cloud of antimatter. Cloud of gamma rays at the centre of our galaxy, the Milky Way. This is annihilation radiation, a type of gamma radiatio

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Galactic cloud of antimatter. Cloud of gamma rays at the centre of our galaxy, the Milky Way. This is annihilation radiation, a type of gamma radiation produced when a particle and antiparticle collide (in this case an electron and a positron). The gamma rays spread out either side of the centre along the galactic plane, but also extend upwards above the galactic centre. The source of antimatter particles for this upward radiation is not known, but could be black holes, starbirth regions or neutron star collisions. Image obtained by the OSSE instrument on board NASA's Compton Gamma Ray Observatory.

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Size: 4184px × 2092px
Photo credit: © W. PURCELL(NWU) ET AL., OSSE, COMPTON OBSEVATORY, NASA/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No

Keywords: 20th, annihilating, annihilation, antimatter, astronomical, astronomy, astrophysical, astrophysics, centre, century, colliding, collision, compton, energy, galactic, galaxy, gamma, gc, matter, milky, observatory, osse, radiating, radiation, ray, rays, satellite, space