A team of researchers at the NASA's Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope has named a star constellation after Godzilla, a legendary monster which initially appeared in Japanese films and later marking its presence in the world of global entertainment.
Scientists found this constellation from sources in the gamma-ray sky, and it is invisible to the naked eye. The constellation was named after Godzilla to celebrate the 10th anniversary of Fermi Gamma-ray space telescope.
Researchers at NASA named this constellation Godzilla because its stars often emit gamma-ray bursts very similarly to the atomic breath of the iconic monster. They have also named some other constellations after The Hulk, Doctor Who, The Little Prince and Albert Einstein.
"Developing these unofficial constellations was a fun way to highlight a decade of Fermi's accomplishments. One way or another, all of the gamma-ray constellations have a tie-in to Fermi science," said Julie McEnery, the Fermi project scientist at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, Daily Mail reports.
Godzilla is one of the most popular characters in the world of entertainment and now it is spreading its fame to the universe too. Experts believe that Godzilla will be the perfect name for such a gigantic and powerful constellation that formed after a huge explosion of gamma rays.
"When a massive star runs out of fuel and collapses under its own weight, or when two orbiting neutron stars spiral together and merge, a new black hole - and high-speed jets - may form. The result is a gamma-ray burst, the most powerful explosion in the cosmos. These monstrous blasts, which occur somewhere in the distant universe every day or so according to observations by Fermi's Gamma-ray Burst Monitor, would make even Godzilla envious," said NASA in a statement.
Fermi's Large Area Telescope (LAT) has been surveying the sky every day since 2008 looking for gamma rays. As per experts, gamma rays are usually emitted by pulsars, nova outbursts, gamma-ray bursts, and supermassive black holes. Some conspiracy theorists even believe that gamma rays are beamed on the earth by alien life forms to proclaim their existence.
