HELLO GAMMA RAY LOVERS------->YOU HAVE REACHED THE NOVELLO GAMMA RAY OBSERVATORY PAGE!!!! AND I WOULD JUST LIKE TO SAY........

WELCOME TO MY WEB PAGE

I am a professional(ha ha) scientist named Paul Novello , and my partner, Jason Crow , have been scientifically involved in an educational program called Project Smart, at the University of New Hampshire.

I am the cute one with the cap-->

Gamma Rays are very easy to understand....even my partner, was able to understand it!!

You see, after NASA launched their satellite called the Gamma Ray Observatory(GRO), they were able to monitor the amount of Gamma Rays out in space. Gamma rays are waves with the highest form of energy and frequency found at the end of the electromagnetic spectrum. If you are still a little unsure about Gamma rays and would like more clarification, go to this fun site Gamma Rays Are Fun!

OK, now on to the real fun!!!! We worked and worked at collecting data in the summer of 1997, from old files from May 17 1991 to about the August 1991. This data was collected from the old files created by the GRO, we look at this data and then used a program to plot them out on a graph. Then we look at the graph and try to point out any spikes that happen to stand out from the pattern of bumps monitored in space. If you click the picture at the lower left, you can

see a spike at about 70000 seconds. That's a Gamma Ray Burst. But just to make sure, we zoomed in on that spike as seen in the second picture(You can click on that TOO!) to confirm that a Gamma Ray Burst was indeed detected!! After, finding one we used the collected data, such as known time and location, to get a good picture of what the burst actually looks like. Click here to see what an actual Gamma Ray Burst would look like through the Gamma Ray telescope, which is known as Comptel on the GRO. It is impossible to see Gamma Ray's without a special Gamma Ray telescope because our eyes can only detect light waves(aka visible waves), while Gamma Rays are a totally different wave that our eyes are unable to see. But it is a great myster to astronomers and scientists who are detecting these massive amounts of Gamma waves from different sections of the sky, for limited amounts of time.

What are Gamma Ray Bursts created by???? Well that is a very hard question for even the best Space scientists to answer. Dr. Mark McConnell, one of the leaders of our project, says that many people think that they are the result of exploding stars, Supernovas. But Gamma Rays can even be found on earth! An element in granite, Potassium-40, is found to emit Gamma Rays. So, Gamma Rays can even be found on Earth, which isn't a very good thing because they are radioactive.

Gamma Ray Bursts have been puzzling scientists for years and hopefully with the new and advanced technology forming everyday, they will be able to solve the Mystery of GAMMA RAY BURSTS!!!

If you have any QUESTIONS please e-mail me, Paul Novello

Special thanks to Dr. Mark McConnell and Dr. Alana Connors

© Novello Web Networks 1997. All Rights Reserved.