Now, an increasing number of these particle physicists have turned to the skies, teaming with astronomers to launch spacecraft that can capture gamma rays from astrophysical processes with energies far greater than anything that can be generated in the most powerful atom smashers on Earth.
Scientists have built a variety of ground-based detectors that capture the secondary radiation created when gamma rays crash into gas molecules in Earth's atmosphere, but only a detector above the atmosphere can capture gamma rays directly.