Astronomers have just watched the most powerful explosion ever seen

2 years ago 120

A gamma ray burst astir 2.4 cardinal airy years distant is being called “the BOAT” – the brightest of each clip – and is truthful almighty it has adjacent affected Earth’s atmosphere

Space 17 October 2022

By Leah Crane

Composite representation showing GRB221009A

Astronomers person spotted what whitethorn beryllium the astir almighty detonation ever seen. The gamma ray burst, called GRB 221009A, was spotted connected 9 October, and adjacent its afterglow is brighter than astir objects successful the sky.

This benignant of gamma ray burst (GRB) is thought to hap erstwhile a monolithic prima explodes successful a supernova, leaving down a achromatic hole. The detonation creates an bonzer pitchy of airy which makes up the GRB itself, and past the supernova causes a dimmer afterglow. This peculiar GRB appears truthful agleam partially due to the fact that it is astir 2.4 cardinal airy years distant from Earth, making it 1 of the closest GRBs ever spotted successful summation to being the brightest.

“If we look astatine each of the gamma ray bursts that person been detected, this 1 stands apart,” says Jillian Rastinejad astatine Northwestern University successful Illinois. “Informally, we’ve been calling it the BOAT – the brightest of each time.” She and her colleagues calculated that a GRB this agleam is expected to hap lone erstwhile each 1000 years oregon so.

We don’t cognize precisely however almighty this burst is, though, contempt the information that galore telescopes astir the satellite are looking astatine it. That is partially due to the fact that it is truthful agleam that it saturates the detectors of gamma-ray telescopes, truthful each they spot are wholly achromatic pixels with nary detail, says Andrew Levan astatine Radboud University successful the Netherlands, 1 of Rastinejad’s colleagues. “If you had gamma-ray eyes, you’d beryllium blinded,” helium says. Current estimates enactment the vigor of the GRB betwixt 10^54 and 10^55 ergs, helium says – successful contrast, the full energy released by the sun passim its beingness is expected to beryllium astir 10^51 ergs.

GRB 221009A is truthful agleam that it is affecting Earth, adjacent from billions of airy years away. Naval vigor transmitters recorded a unusual disturbance successful the precocious atmosphere, which seems to person been caused by the almighty airy from the GRB slamming into it. Detectors that hunt for high-energy photons – particles of airy – person besides seen bonzer particles with energies acold higher than thing produced astatine the Large Hadron Collider.

This has made a splash among astronomers. “It seems similar beauteous overmuch each scope successful the satellite is starting to look astatine it,” says Rastinejad. But to larn much astir the supernova itself and its location galaxy, they volition person to hold until the agleam pitchy fades, which could instrumentality months. Once that occurs, we should person a amended thought of wherefore this GRB was truthful extraordinarily bright.

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