Gamma-ray bursts are the brightest electromagnetic events that occur in the Universe, when a few seconds of the burst release as much energy as the Sun would emit in 10 billion years. The powerful explosion, BOAT or GRB 221009A, occurred approximately 2.4 billion light-years from Earth, in the direction of the constellation Sagittarius, and lasted several hundred seconds.
Scientists detected signs of a supernova associated with BOAT using the James Webb Space Telescope about 170 days after the explosion. It is assumed that such an explosion of a supermassive star would produce heavy elements such as platinum and gold as a result of the r-process (the rapid capture of neutrons by atomic nuclei).
The researchers found no traces of heavy elements, meaning extremely energetic gamma-ray bursts like BOAT do not produce these elements. This refutes the hypothesis that elements with a large number of neutrons are formed as a result of the collapse of a rapidly rotating massive star. However, it is possible that less luminous gamma-ray bursts are sources of heavy atoms, along with hypernovae – merger events of two neutron stars for which the presence of the r-process has been confirmed.
In future studies, scientists plan to examine how a normal supernova and a superluminous gamma-ray burst could be produced by the same star. This may be due to the shape and structure of relativistic jets that arise when a star collapses into a black hole. Then a large amount of radiation is focused into a relatively narrow beam, which can be directed towards the Earth.
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2024-04-15 19:51:46