Fermi's 15-year View of the Gamma-Ray Sky

This image shows the entire sky as seen by Fermi's Large Area Telescope. Lighter colors indicate brighter gamma-ray sources. The map is centered on the center of our galaxy. The most prominent feature is the bright, diffuse glow running along the middle of the map, which marks the central plane of our Milky Way galaxy. The gamma rays there are mostly produced when energetic particles accelerated in the shock waves of supernova remnants collide with gas atoms and even light between the stars. Many of the star-like features above and below the Milky Way plane are distant galaxies powered by supermassive black holes. Many of the bright sources along the plane are pulsars. The image was constructed from 15 years of observations using front-converting gamma rays with energies greater than 1 GeV. Hammer projection with black background.

Credit: NASA/DOE/Fermi LAT Collaboration

Alt text: Fermi 15-year all-sky gamma-ray map

Image description: A colorful oval map sits in the middle of a black background. The oval is predominantly royal blue, striped with an irregular bright red, orange, and yellow band horizontally across the center, which shows the plane of our Milky Way galaxy. Smaller dots and splotches in red, orange, yellow, and white appear throughout the oval.

Same as above but with a transparent background.

Credit: NASA/DOE/Fermi LAT Collaboration

Same as above but in the equidistant cylindrical projection.

Credit: NASA/DOE/Fermi LAT Collaboration

Alt text: Fermi 15-year all-sky gamma-ray map, cylindrical projection

Image description: A colorful rectangular map sits in the middle of a black background. The map is predominantly royal blue, striped with an irregular bright red, orange, and yellow band horizontally across the center, which shows the plane of our Milky Way galaxy. Smaller dots and splotches in pink, orange, and yellow, appear throughout the image.

This image shows the entire sky as seen by Fermi's Large Area Telescope. Lighter colors indicate brighter gamma-ray sources. The map is centered on the point opposite the center of our galaxy. The most prominent feature is the bright, diffuse glow running along the middle of the map, which marks the central plane of our Milky Way galaxy. The gamma rays there are mostly produced when energetic particles accelerated in the shock waves of supernova remnants collide with gas atoms and even light between the stars. Many of the star-like features above and below the Milky Way plane are distant galaxies powered by supermassive black holes. Many of the bright sources along the plane are pulsars. The image was constructed from 15 years of observations using front-converting gamma rays with energies greater than 1 GeV. Hammer projection with black background.

Credit: NASA/DOE/Fermi LAT Collaboration

Alt text: Fermi 15-year all-sky gamma-ray map, galactic anticenter

Image description: A colorful oval map sits in the middle of a black background. The map is predominantly royal blue, striped with an irregular bright red, orange, and yellow band horizontally across the center, which shows the plane of our Milky Way galaxy. Smaller dots and splotches in pink, orange, and yellow, appear throughout the image.

Same as above but with a transparent background.

Credit: NASA/DOE/Fermi LAT Collaboration