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2612856 
Journal Article 
FERMI LARGE AREA TELESCOPE CONSTRAINTS ON THE GAMMA-RAY OPACITY OF THE UNIVERSE 
Abdo, AA; Ackermann, M; Ajello, M; Allafort, A; Atwood, WB; Baldini, L; Ballet, J; Barbiellini, G; Baring, MG; Bastieri, D; Baughman, BM; Bechtol, K; Bellazzini, R; Berenji, B; Bhat, PN; Blandford, RD; Bloom, ED; Bonamente, E; Borgland, AW; Bouvier, A; Brandt, TJ; Bregeon, J; Brez, A; Briggs, MS; Brigida, M; Bruel, P; Buehler, R; Burnett, TH; Buson, S; Caliandro, GA; Cameron, RA; Caraveo, PA; Carrigan, S; Casandjian, JM; Cavazzuti, E; Cecchi, C; Celik, O; Charles, E; Chekhtman, A; Chen, AW; Cheung, CC; Chiang, J; Ciprini, S; Claus, R; Cohen-Tanugi, J; Connaughton, V; Conrad, J; Costamante, L; Dermer, CD; de Angelis, A; de Palma, F; Digel, SW; Dingus, BL; Do Couto e Silva, E; Drell, PS; Dubois, R; Favuzzi, C; Fegan, SJ; Finke, J; Fortin, P; Fukazawa, Y; Funk, S; Fusco, P; Gargano, F; Gasparrini, D; Gehrels, N; Germani, S; Giglietto, N; Gilmore, RC; Giommi, P; Giordano, F; Giroletti, M; Glanzman, T; Godfrey, G; Granot, J; Greiner, J; Grenier, IA; Grove, JE; Guiriec, S; Gustafsson, M; Hadasch, D; Hayashida, M; Hays, E; Horan, D; Hughes, RE; Johannesson, G; Johnson, AS; Johnson, RP; Johnson, WN; Kamae, T; Katagiri, H; Kataoka, J; Knoedlseder, J; Kocevski, D; Kuss, M; Lande, J; Latronico, L; Lee, SH; Garde, ML; Longo, F; Loparco, F; Lott, B; Lovellette, MN; Lubrano, P; Makeev, A; Mazziotta, N; Mcconville, W; Mcenery, JE; Mcglynn, S; Mehault, J; Meszaros, P; Michelson, PF; Mizuno, T; Moiseev, AA; Monte, C; Monzani, ME; Moretti, E; Morselli, A; Moskalenko, IV; Murgia, S; Nakamori, T; Naumann-Godo, M; Nolan, PL; Norris, JP; Nuss, E; Ohno, M; Ohsugi, T; Okumura, A; Omodei, N; Orlando, E; Ormes, JF; Ozaki, M; Paneque, D; Panetta, JH; Parent, D; Pelassa, V; Pepe, M; Pesce-Rollins, M; Piron, F; Porter, TA; Primack, JR, JR; Raino, S; Rando, R; Razzano, M; Razzaque, S; Reimer, A; Reimer, O; Reyes, LC; Ripken, J; Ritz, S; Romani, RW; Roth, M; Sadrozinski, HFW; Sanchez, D; Sander, A; Scargle, JD; Schalk, TL; Sgro, C; Shaw, MS; Siskind, EJ; Smith, PD; Spandre, G; Spinelli, P; Stecker, FW; Strickman, MS; Suson, DJ; Tajima, H; Takahashi, H; Takahashi, T; Tanaka, T; Thayer, JB; Thayer, JG; Thompson, DJ; Tibaldo, L; Torres, DF; Tosti, G; Tramacere, A; Uchiyama, Y; Usher, TL; Vandenbroucke, J; Vasileiou, V; Vilchez, N; Vitale, V; von Kienlin, A; Waite, AP; Wang, P; Wilson-Hodge, C; Winer, BL; Wood, KS; Yamazaki, R; Yang, Z; Ylinen, T; Ziegler, M 
2010 
The Astrophysical Journal
ISSN: 0004-637X
EISSN: 1538-4357 
723 
1082-1096 
The extragalactic background light (EBL) includes photons with wavelengths from ultraviolet to infrared, which are effective at attenuating gamma rays with energy above similar to 10 GeV during propagation from sources at cosmological distances. This results in a redshift- and energy-dependent attenuation of the gamma-ray flux of extragalactic sources such as blazars and gamma-ray bursts (GRBs). The Large Area Telescope on board Fermi detects a sample of gamma-ray blazars with redshift up to z similar to 3, and GRBs with redshift up to z similar to 4.3. Using photons above 10 GeV collected by Fermi over more than one year of observations for these sources, we investigate the effect of gamma-ray flux attenuation by the EBL. We place upper limits on the gamma-ray opacity of the universe at various energies and redshifts and compare this with predictions from well-known EBL models. We find that an EBL intensity in the optical-ultraviolet wavelengths as great as predicted by the "baseline" model of Stecker et al. can be ruled out with high confidence. 
diffuse radiation; dust, extinction; gamma rays: general