Scientists Just Detected a Colossal Gamma-Ray Burst, And It's a Record-Breaker

.sciencealert.com ^ | 12 October 2022 By | MICHELLE STARR

[BenLurkin]

Initially dubbed Swift J1913.1+1946...now re-named GRB221009A.

2.4 billion light-years away...18 teraelectronvolts.

[T]hough this proximity happens to be 20 times closer than the average long gamma-ray burst, it poses absolutely no danger to life on Earth.

Rather, it's tremendously exciting – an event that could

These bursts mark the end of the life of a massive star – a supernova or hypernova. They can also emerge from a collision between two neutron stars.

Different gamma-ray burst profiles mean different kinds of explosions, which fade in different ways. When astronomers observed a collision between two neutron stars in 2017, it produced a short gamma-ray burst. Long-duration bursts are associated with unusually powerful events, superluminous supernovae and hypernovae.

It's unclear, yet, what we're looking at with GRB221009A.

What we do know is that the burst appears to have emerged from a very dusty galaxy, and that it was very powerful. And the Large High Altitude Air Shower Observatory (LHAASO), a Cherenkov observatory in China, has detected photons with energies up to roughly 18 teraelectronvolts (TeV). To date, just a handful of gamma-ray bursts have been detected with emission in the TeV range; if the LHAASO data is verified, GRB221009A will be the first above 10 TeV.

There is, for now, a lot of science to be done in the days following the outburst. Scientists are training telescopes to the location of the object to observe the behavior of the afterglow across as many wavelengths as possible, information crucial to uncovering in detail the cause of the explosion.

[FlingWingFlyer]

Probably the birth of a new Marvel/Disney transvestite “super hero”.

[Red Badger]

[Red Badger]

[Sirius Lee]

First you go blind, and then you fry.

[Magnum44]

Gamma ray burst detector pegged...

[SunkenCiv]

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[quikstrike98]

A gamma ray burst close enough to our system would sterilize our planet of all life. Sleep well!

[Abathar]

I guess in the long run it’s totally meaningless, and by long run I mean the LONG run...

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=uD4izuDMUQA&t=2s

[Billyv]

Hulk alert in 3,2,1......

[DannyTN]

[Magnum44]

LOL

[griswold3]

You had to do it, didn’t you?

[DannyTN]

Had to!

How was that not in the top 10 posts?

[griswold3]

I’d give it top billing!

[Dust in the Wind]

In their long run you’ll get cold soup.

[LS]

OMG, OMG, OMG. In 2.4 billion years we’re all going to turn into the Hulk!!!!!

[moovova]

[Stosh]

Well that was a cheery little trip into the future . . .

[Abathar]

Whole lotta zeros going by down there...