Gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) are one of the most mysterious transient phenomena facing astronomers today. These incredibly energetic bursts are the strongest electromagnetic events observed since the Big Bang and can last anywhere from milliseconds to hours. While longer bursts are thought to occur during supernovae, when massive stars undergo gravitational collapse and shed their outer layers to become black holes, shorter events have also been recorded when massive binary objects ( black holes and neutron stars) merge.
These bursts are characterized by an initial flash of gamma rays and a longer lasting “afterglow” typically emitted in x-rays, ultraviolet, radio and other longer wavelengths. In the early morning hours of October 14, 2022, two independent teams of astronomers using the Gemini South Telescope observed the aftermath of a GRB designated GRB221009A. Located 2.4 billion light-years away in the constellation Sagitta, this event was possibly the closest and most powerful explosion on record and was likely triggered by a supernova that spawned a hole black.
Longer-lived GRBs occur when massive stars go supernova, producing a residual black hole and blowing through their outer layers. The force of this explosion creates powerful jets as the ejected material is accelerated to nearly the speed of light, pushing through the debris and emitting X-rays and gamma rays as they reach further into space. If these jets are moving in the general direction of Earth, astronomers will observe them as bright flashes of X-rays and gamma rays. Using data from some of the most powerful telescopes on Earth and in space, astronomers have been able to make unprecedented observations of a nearby GRB.
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GRB221009A was first detected on the morning of October 9, 2022 by space X-ray and gamma-ray telescopes, including NASA’s Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope, the Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory, and the Wind spacecraft. Almost immediately after, observatories around the world rushed to make follow-up observations and determine what came of it. Using the Gemini South Telescope (operated by NOIRLab), two independent teams performed rapid Target of Opportunity (ToO) observations of the afterglow of the powerful event.
The teams were led by Brendan O’Connor, an observational astronomer with degrees from the University of Maryland and George Washington University, and Jillian Rastinejad, a Ph.D. student at the Center for Interdisciplinary Astrophysics Exploration and Research (CIERA) at Northwestern University. The two teams obtained the earliest possible observations of the afterglow within minutes of each other using Gemini South’s FLAMINGOS-2 near-infrared imaging instrument and the Gemini Multi-Object Spectrograph (GMOS), respectively.
As Rastinejad explained in a recent press release from NOIRLab, their combined datasets produced a picture of what may be the brightest GRB ever observed:
“In our research group, we call this burst the ‘BOAT’ or brightest ever, because when you look at the thousands of bursts that gamma-ray telescopes have detected since the 1990s, this one stands out.. Gemini’s sensitivity and diverse instrument range will help us observe GRB221009A’s optical counterpart much later than most ground-based telescopes can observe. This will help us understand what made this gamma-ray burst so unique and energetic.“
The speed with which the teams completed their observations is a testament to Gemini Observatory’s data reduction infrastructure and software, including the Fast Initial Reduction Engine (FIRE) and Data Reduction for Astronomy from Gemini Observatory North and South (DRAGONS). Soon after, NASA’s gamma-ray coordinate network began to fill with reports from observatories around the world. Based on the available data, scientists believe that the GRB is the result of the collapse of a star several times the mass of our Sun which gave rise to a black hole.
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Additionally, data from this event may help solve a lingering mystery regarding GRBs. While most gamma-ray bursts have been observed in distant galaxies, some appear as lone flashes from intergalactic space. This has raised questions about the true origins and distances of GRBs, with many astronomers theorizing that some short bursts originate from the Intergalactic Medium (IGM). However, these results suggest that short GRBs may have been more common in the past than expected.
The research teams came to this conclusion after looking at data on the 120 short GRBs observed by the two main instruments aboard NASA’s Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory – the Burst Alert Telescope (BAT) and the Swift X- ray Telescope, which detect bursts and examine the X – ray afterglow. They linked this to additional afterglow studies with the Lowell Discovery Telescope (LDT), which revealed that 43 of the short GRBs were not associated with any known galaxy and appeared in the relatively empty space between galaxies. As O’Connor explained in a report from the University of Maryland:
“Many short GRBs are found in bright galaxies relatively close to us, but some of them appear to have no corresponding galactic focus. observatories like the Gemini Twin Telescopes to find the faint glow of galaxies that were simply too distant to recognize before.
These findings could also have implications for our understanding of the early Universe. In recent years, astronomers have found evidence that precious metals like gold and platinum may have come from neutron star mergers that occurred billions of years ago. If these events were more frequent in the past, it could mean that the Universe was seeded with precious metals earlier than expected. In the meantime, the energetic nature of this event makes it a unique opportunity for astronomers. As O’Conner explained:
“The exceptionally long GRB 221009A is the brightest GRB ever recorded and its afterglow breaks all records at all wavelengths. Because this burst is so bright and so close, we believe this is a unique opportunity to address some of the most fundamental questions about these outbursts, from black hole formation to testing dark matter models.”
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Due to its relative proximity to Earth, this event is also a unique opportunity to study the origin of elements heavier than iron (which form inside stars) and whether they come solely from fusions of iron. neutron stars or stars that are also collapsing. Finally, this event also caused disturbances in the Earth’s ionosphere which affected long-wave radio transmissions and produced very high energy photons (18 tera-electron-volt) detected by the Great Chinese Air Shower Observatory. at high altitude.
How these photons survived the 2.4 billion year journey to Earth is a mystery. Therefore, these data could reveal new insights into how the laws of physics behave under extreme circumstances and allow astrophysics to predict the effect future GRBs may have on Earth.
The Gemini International Observatory consists of the Gemini North Telescope in Hawaii and the Gemini South Telescope in Chile, which are operated by the National Optical-Infrared Astronomy Research Laboratory (NOIRLab) – part of the National Science Foundation (NSF) . Articles describing the findings of the two teams recently appeared in the Royal Astronomical Society Monthly Notices and The Astrophysical Journal.
Further reading: NOIRLab, UMD, LJA, MNRAS
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