First Observations of Solar Disk Gamma Rays over a Full Solar Cycle

Understand

The solar disk is among the brightest gamma-ray sources in the sky.

• It is also among the most mysterious.
• No existing model fully explains the luminosity, spectrum, time variability, and morphology of its emission.
• We perform the first analysis of solar-disk gamma rays over a full 11-year solar cycle, utilizing a powerful new method to differentiate solar signals from astrophysical backgrounds.