Deutsch: Gammastrahlung / Español: Rayos gamma / Português: Radiação gama / Français: Rayon gamma / Italiano: Raggi gamma

A Gamma radiation is a short-wavelength electromagnetic radiation of nuclear origin, with energies between 10 keV to 9 MeV.

Gamma radiation (or gamma rays) refers to type of extremely high-frequency electromagnetic radiation, and are also high energy photons. Gamma rays are ionizing radiation, and are therefore biologically hazardous. Gamma radiation was discovered in 1900 by a French chemist and physicist, Paul Villard, while studying radiation emitted from radium. Ernest Rutherford named Villard's discovery "gamma rays" in 1903.

Gamma radiation may be produced by the decay of atomic nuclei when they transition from a high- to a low-energy state in a process known as gamma decay.

Natural sources of gamma radiation include gamme decay from naturally-occurring radioisotopes, and secondary radiation from atmospheric interactions with cosmic ray particles. Lightning strikes and terrestrial gamma-ray flashes may also naturally produce gamma radiation of a non-nuclear origin, though this may be rare. Some astronomical processes which produce very high-energy electrons may also produce gamma radiation.

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