NASA has identified 21 new constellations in the night sky—including ones shaped like a giant castle and the movie monster Godzilla. But to spot them, you’d need help from the extremely powerful Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope.
Fermi orbits Earth and detects gamma rays. People can’t see this high-energy form of light, which is given off by celestial objects like black holes and dying stars. NASA astrophysicists used the telescope to map sources of the light and then came up with the creative new constellations. The scientists named the new formations after famous scientists, landmarks, and references to popular culture. NASA announced the project to celebrate Fermi’s 10th anniversary.
“One gamma ray at a time, we build a deeper understanding of the night sky,” says Julie McEnery, a project scientist for Fermi. “We’re talking about a world we can’t see with our eyes. But it is there, and we want to understand it.”