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Original Sky And Telescope article
NASA article
Results from Fermi’s Gamma-ray Burst Monitor (GBM) instrument show that positrons — the antimatter counterpart of electrons — are produced by "terrestrial gamma-ray flashes" above thunderstorms. TGFs were discovered in 1994. They are brief (often less than a thousandth of a second) but intense bursts of gamma rays associated with thunderstorms. Scientists estimate that about 500 TGFs occur each day around the world, though most go unnoticed.
Since Fermi was launched in June 2008, the GBM team has detected 130 TGFs, mostly in tropical regions where thunderstorms are most common. In four of these TGF events, the GBM also recorded a quick flash of gamma-ray photons with a specific energy of 511,000 electron volts. That’s the characteristic energy of electrons and positrons annihilating one another. “TGFs aren’t just making gamma rays, they’re also making positrons,” says GBM science team member Michael Briggs (Univerity of Alabama, Huntsville).
NASA article
Results from Fermi’s Gamma-ray Burst Monitor (GBM) instrument show that positrons — the antimatter counterpart of electrons — are produced by "terrestrial gamma-ray flashes" above thunderstorms. TGFs were discovered in 1994. They are brief (often less than a thousandth of a second) but intense bursts of gamma rays associated with thunderstorms. Scientists estimate that about 500 TGFs occur each day around the world, though most go unnoticed.
Since Fermi was launched in June 2008, the GBM team has detected 130 TGFs, mostly in tropical regions where thunderstorms are most common. In four of these TGF events, the GBM also recorded a quick flash of gamma-ray photons with a specific energy of 511,000 electron volts. That’s the characteristic energy of electrons and positrons annihilating one another. “TGFs aren’t just making gamma rays, they’re also making positrons,” says GBM science team member Michael Briggs (Univerity of Alabama, Huntsville).