Celestial bodies do not only emit visible light. The electromagnetic keyboard played by Nature spans dozens of octaves. At the top, in extremely high color hues, are gamma rays, which have energies some 1,000 billion times greater than that of visible light. This is the energy range of teraelectronvolts, abbreviated TeV. The author worked in this branch of astronomy and wants to bring the mysterious sources of the TeV sky closer to readers – at least this is what the title of the book suggests.
Domainko starts with two examples: gamma-ray bursts and the unusual Geminga source. The second chapter deals with cosmic accelerators in which TeV rays can be generated. Then the third chapter is devoted – there is no copy-and-paste error – anomalies in geological faults. In Chapter Four, Domainko discusses whether a nearby gamma-ray burst could be fatal to Earth. Chapter 5 deals with surprising discoveries, while Chapter 6 deals with astronomy with big data. In Chapter 7, you’ll then learn how signals from such large datasets can sometimes be found by means of “citizen science,” in which a large number of volunteers perform a large number of small, repetitive, repetitive tasks.
Unusual mix of subjects
How did this unusual choice of subjects come about? The answer is obvious: the author simply describes what he was working on before turning his back on science. So the book is not a well-researched introduction to TeV astronomy. The result is a somewhat muddled text with questionable focus. Because the ideas and analyzes Domainko discusses are certainly not what you should learn first about the field of research after more than 30 years of terrestrial gamma astronomy. Most of the models presented are very unlikely, if not very complex. One reads through the incredible distance determinations or one has to consider whether a gamma-ray burst was responsible for the extinction of the dinosaurs.
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