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In astrophysics, gamma rays are conventionally defined as having photon energies above 100 keV and are the subject of gamma-ray astronomy, while radiation below 100 keV is classified as X-rays and is the subject of X-ray astronomy. Gamma rays are ionizing radiation and are thus hazardous to life.
Iodine-131 is another important gamma-emitting radionuclide produced as a fission product. With a short half-life of 8 days, this radioisotope is not of practical use in radioactive sources in industrial radiography or sensing. However, since iodine is a component of biological molecules such as thyroid hormones, iodine-131 is of great ...
A gamma camera (γ-camera), also called a scintillation camera or Anger camera, is a device used to image gamma radiation emitting radioisotopes, a technique known as scintigraphy. The applications of scintigraphy include early drug development and nuclear medical imaging to view and analyse images of the human body or the distribution of ...
Background radiation is a measure of the level of ionizing radiation present in the environment at a particular location which is not due to deliberate introduction of radiation sources. Background radiation originates from a variety of sources, both natural and artificial. These include both cosmic radiation and environmental radioactivity ...
Gamma-ray laser. A gamma-ray laser, or graser, is a hypothetical device that would produce coherent gamma rays, just as an ordinary laser produces coherent rays of visible light. [1] Potential applications for gamma-ray lasers include medical imaging, spacecraft propulsion, and cancer treatment. [2]
The technology involves the use of a neutron or gamma-ray source and a radiation detector which are lowered into boreholes to determine the properties of the surrounding rock such as porosity and lithography. Road Construction - Nuclear moisture/density gauges are used to determine the density of soils, asphalt, and concrete. Typically a cesium ...
Americium is used in the most common type of household smoke detector, which uses 241 Am in the form of americium dioxide as its source of ionizing radiation. [99] This isotope is preferred over 226 Ra because it emits 5 times more alpha particles and relatively little harmful gamma radiation.
Gamma-ray astronomy is a subfield of astronomy where scientists observe and study celestial objects and phenomena in outer space which emit cosmic electromagnetic radiation in the form of gamma rays, [nb 1] i.e. photons with the highest energies (above 100 keV) at the very shortest wavelengths.