Title
A gamma-ray determination of the Universe's star formation history
Date Issued
30 November 2018
Access level
open access
Resource Type
journal article
Author(s)
Abdollahi S.
Ackermann M.
Ajello M.
Atwood W.B.
Baldini L.
Ballet J.
Barbiellini G.
Bastieri D.
Becerra Gonzalez J.
Bellazzini R.
Bissaldi E.
Blandford R.D.
Bloom E.D.
Bonino R.
Bottacini E.
Buson S.
Bregeon J.
Bruel P.
Buehler R.
Cameron R.A.
Caputo R.
Caraveo P.A.
Cavazzuti E.
Charles E.
Chen S.
Cheung C.C.
Chiaro G.
Ciprini S.
Cohen-Tanugi J.
Cominsky L.R.
Conrad J.
Costantin D.
Cutini S.
D'Ammando F.
de Palma F.
Desai A.
Digel S.W.
Di Lalla N.
Di Mauro M.
Di Venere L.
Domínguez A.
Favuzzi C.
Fegan S.J.
Finke J.
Franckowiak A.
Fukazawa Y.
Funk S.
Fusco P.
Gallardo Romero G.
Gargano F.
Gasparrini D.
Giglietto N.
Giordano F.
Giroletti M.
Green D.
Grenier I.A.
Guillemot L.
Guiriec S.
Hartmann D.H.
Hays E.
Helgason K.
Horan D.
Jóhannesson G.
Kocevski D.
Kuss M.
Larsson S.
Latronico L.
Li J.
Longo F.
Loparco F.
Lott B.
Lovellette M.N.
Lubrano P.
Madejski G.M.
Magill J.D.
Maldera S.
Manfreda A.
Marcotulli L.
Mazziotta M.N.
McEnery J.E.
Meyer M.
Michelson P.F.
Mizuno T.
Monzani M.E.
Morselli A.
Moskalenko I.V.
Negro M.
Nuss E.
Ojha R.
Omodei N.
Orienti M.
Orlando E.
Ormes J.F.
Palatiello M.
Paliya V.S.
Paneque D.
Perkins J.S.
Persic M.
Pesce-Rollins M.
Petrosian V.
Publisher(s)
American Association for the Advancement of Science
Abstract
The light emitted by all galaxies over the history of the Universe produces the extragalactic background light (EBL) at ultraviolet, optical, and infrared wavelengths. The EBL is a source of opacity for gamma rays via photon-photon interactions, leaving an imprint in the spectra of distant gamma-ray sources. We measured this attenuation using 739 active galaxies and one gamma-ray burst detected by the Fermi Large Area Telescope. This allowed us to reconstruct the evolution of the EBL and determine the star formation history of the Universe over 90% of cosmic time. Our star formation history is consistent with independent measurements from galaxy surveys, peaking at redshift z ~ 2. Upper limits of the EBL at the epoch of reionization suggest a turnover in the abundance of faint galaxies at z ~ 6.
Start page
1031
End page
1034
Volume
362
Issue
6418
Language
English
OCDE Knowledge area
Astronomía
Física de partículas, Campos de la Física
Scopus EID
2-s2.0-85057548351
PubMed ID
Source
Science
ISSN of the container
00368075
Sponsor(s)
Directorate for Mathematical and Physical Sciences- 715256 MPS
Sources of information:
Directorio de Producción Científica
Scopus