A US research team observed the largest gamma-ray burst ever recorded on the morning of the 9th.
The largest gamma-ray burst (GRB) ever recorded, believed to have occurred during the birth of a black hole 2.4 billion light-years away from Earth, has been captured and astronomers around the world, including the United States, are watching, AFP news agency reported on the 14th (local time).
Gamma-ray bursts are the most powerful electromagnetic emission phenomena in the universe. This gamma-ray burst (GRB 221009A) was first captured by the Swift X-Ray Telescope orbiting the Earth on the 9th, and scientists around the world have since Follow-up observations were made.
Professor Brendan O’Connor, astrophysicist at the University of Maryland and George Washington University, said the gamma-ray burst lasted hundreds of seconds and was believed to have been caused by the death of a star 30 times more massive than the Sun.
When a star that is several dozen times larger than the Sun consumes all of its hydrogen and helium through nuclear fusion, a supernova explodes, expelling matter and energy at a speed of 99.99% of the speed of light, and becomes a black hole.
Professor O’Connor said that the gamma-ray burst emitted 18 TeV (tera electron volts = 10 to 12 electron volts), affecting long-wave radio communications in the Earth’s atmosphere ionosphere.
“This is a record both in terms of the amount of photons emitted and the energy of the photons that reach Earth,” he added.
Gamma-ray detonation research began in the 1960s when a satellite launched by the United States to monitor whether the Soviet Union was testing bombs in space captured explosions outside the Milky Way.
“Gamma-ray bursts typically release in seconds an energy equivalent to the lifetime of the sun,” said Professor O’Connor.
Some astrophysicists in the past have argued that gamma-ray bursts release enormous amounts of energy, so if directed toward the Earth, it might lead to the extinction of life on Earth.
However, O’Connor said, “It’s not something to be concerned regarding,” O’Connor said.
This gamma-ray burst is estimated to have occurred in the constellation Sagittarius and flew for 1.9 billion years.
The current distance between the origin and the Earth is far greater than this as the universe continues to expand.
Events like this offer astronomers a rare opportunity to directly observe the process of black hole formation.
Professor O’Connor said that over the next several weeks, he and his colleagues will be observing features of the supernova with both optical and infrared telescopes to determine whether the hypothesis for the origin of the gamma-ray burst is correct and whether it is consistent with existing physics explanations. said.
/yunhap news