Blazar 3C 454.3 in the Constellation Pegasus (IMAGE)

NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center

Blazar 3C 454.3 in the Constellation Pegasus

Caption

Unprecedented flares from the blazar 3C 454.3 in the constellation Pegasus now make it the brightest persistent gamma-ray source in the sky. That title usually goes to the Vela pulsar in our galaxy, which is millions of times closer. These all-sky images, which show the numbers of high-energy gamma-rays captured by Fermi's Large Area Telescope on Dec. 3 and Nov. 18, clearly show the change.

Credit

NASA/DOE/Fermi LAT

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