Abstract:

The Sun is the dominant optical source in the universe – even in Sweden in January. But what does the Sun look like at very high energies? Fortunately for our DNA - the Sun is not a similarly powerful source at gamma-ray energies. However, over the last few years, we have found bright gamma-ray emission coming from the Sun through a unique mechanism. The Sun acts as a “passive source” that is capable of using its mass and light to convert high-energy charged particles that move throughout the galaxy into gamma-ray emission. I will summarize recent observations of this unique high-energy flux, and discuss they can help us understand our Universe’s most critical source of photons.