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The Question
(Submitted October 28, 1996)
What is a gamma-ray? And how does an X-ray in space work?
The Answer
X-rays and gamma-rays are like the light we can see with our eyes and the
radio waves we can detect with radio and TV sets. The only difference is
how fast they vibrate. Radio waves vibrate the most slowly, then
microwaves and infra-red (heat) waves, then the colors red to violet, then
ultra-violet radiation (which cases sun-burn among other things) then X-rays,
and finally (vibrating the most quickly) gamma-rays.
Imagine the Universe! provides a great deal of information about X-rays and
gamma-rays at the high school level. If you are younger than that you
might also want to take a look at the
StarChild (http://starchild.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/StarChild/StarChild.html)
site.
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