GRB 221009A

GRB 221009A also known as Swift J1913.1+1946 was an unusually bright and long-lasting gamma-ray burst (GRB) jointly discovered by the Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory and the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope on October 9, 2022. The gamma-ray burst lasted for more than ten hours following detection,[1][2] and could briefly be observed by amateur astronomers.[3] This is also one of the closest gamma-ray bursts and is among the most energetic and luminous bursts.[4] A once-in-10,000-year event,[5][6] its high-intensity emissions span 15 orders of magnitude of the electromagnetic spectrum from radio to gamma-rays and consequently offers a rare opportunity for researchers to study it and events like it in detail.[7][8] Radio signals will likely linger for years to come.[8] GRB 221009A came from the constellation of Sagitta and occurred an estimated 1.9 billion years ago,[7] and is currently at a distance of 2.4 billion light-years away from Earth.[9]

GRB 221009A
Ten-hour timelapse of GRB 221009A, as seen by the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope
Duration10 hours
ConstellationSagitta
Right ascension19h 13m 03.48s
Declination+19° 46′ 24.6″
Distance2.4 billion light years
Redshift0.151
Other designationsSwift J1913.1+1946
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The burst oversaturated the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope,[10] which captured photons whose energies exceeded 100 GeV.[11] The Large High Altitude Air Shower Observatory (LHAASO) in China saw 5,000 high-energy photons. (For comparison, in the entire history of the study of gamma-ray bursts, astronomers have detected only hundreds of these.) Some photons even carried a record 18 TeV of energy,[12][3] which is more than can be produced at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at the European Center for Nuclear Research (CERN).[9] Russia's Carpet-2 facility at the Baksan Neutrino Observatory may have recorded a single 251-TeV photon from this burst.[10] By comparing data collected by different observatories, scientists conclude that this event 50 to 70 times brighter than the previous record holder.[13][5] It could help physicists study how matter interacts at relativistic speeds,[7] and potentially physics beyond the Standard Model.[10]

GRB 221009A could be caused by a dying massive star undergoing a supernova,[3] or the birth of a black hole.[11] Some physicists speculate that such exceptionally high-energy photons could come from new physics involving dark matter,[10] axions or decaying sterile neutrinos.[14] However, there is no conclusive evidence this gamma-ray burst was caused by a supernova,[15][16] nor have any neutrinos from this event been detected.[17] Lightning detectors in India and Germany picked up signs of Earth's ionosphere being perturbed for several hours by the burst, though only mildly,[4][10][18] and an enormous influx of electrically charged particles was detected.[19] Some astronomers referred to the burst as the "brightest of all time" or "BOAT",[10][20] a claim justified by the record of known gamma-ray bursts.[6] The afterglow at X-ray energies was hundreds of times brighter than seen before.[21] GRB-221009A is only the seventh gamma-ray burst with X-ray rings.[5] 20 such rings have been identified.[22]

GRB 221009A was subsequently observed by the Neutron Star Interior Composition Explorer (NICER),[7] the Monitor of All-sky X-ray Image (MAXI), the Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer (IXPE),[23] the International Gamma-ray Astrophysics Laboratory (INTEGRAL), the XMM-Newton space telescope,[24] and many others.[9][13]

  • Near-simultaneous observations were made of GRB221009A from Gemini South in Chile. The image is a combination of 4 exposures in I, J, H, K with two instruments taken in the morning of Friday October 14, 2022.
    Near-simultaneous observations were made of GRB221009A from Gemini South in Chile. The image is a combination of 4 exposures in I, J, H, K with two instruments taken in the morning of Friday, October 14, 2022.[25]
  • Optical afterglow of GRB 221009A imaged by amateur astronomer using remote telescope
    Optical afterglow of GRB 221009A imaged by amateur astronomer using remote telescope

See also

References
  1. Dichiara, S.; Gropp, J. D.; Kennea, J. A.; Kuin, N. P. M.; Lien, A. Y.; Marshall, F. E.; Tohuvavohu, A.; Williams, M. A.; Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory Team (2022). "Swift J1913.1+1946 a new bright hard X-ray and optical transient". The Astronomer's Telegram. 15650: 1. Bibcode:2022ATel15650....1D.
  2. Starr, Michelle (October 12, 2022). "Scientists Just Detected a Colossal Gamma-Ray Burst, And It's a Record-Breaker". ScienceAlert. Retrieved October 14, 2022.
  3. Ahmed, Issam (October 16, 2022). "Astronomers are captivated by brightest flash ever seen". AFP. Phys.org.
  4. Plait, Phil (October 21, 2022). "The Brightest Gamma-Ray Burst Ever Recorded Rattled Earth's Atmosphere". Scientific American.
  5. Reddy, Francis (March 28, 2023). "NASA Missions Study What May Be a 1-In-10,000-Year Gamma-ray Burst". NASA. Retrieved March 29, 2023.
  6. Burns, Eric; et al. (2023). "GRB 221009A: The BOAT". The Astrophysical Journal Letters. 946 (1): L31. doi:10.3847/2041-8213/acc39c. S2CID 257219686.
  7. Reddy, Francis (October 13, 2022). "NASA's Swift, Fermi Missions Detect Exceptional Cosmic Blast". NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center.
  8. Laskar, Tanmoy; et al. (2023). "The Radio to GeV Afterglow of GRB 221009A". The Astrophysical Journal Letters. 946 (1): L23. doi:10.3847/2041-8213/acbfad. S2CID 256697486.
  9. Sullivan, Will (October 21, 2022). "This Powerful Gamma-Ray Blast Was the 'Brightest of All Time'". Smithsonian Magazine. Retrieved January 12, 2023.
  10. O'Callaghan, Jonathan (October 26, 2022). "Brightest-Ever Space Explosion Could Help Explain Dark Matter". Quanta Magazine. Retrieved October 27, 2022.
  11. Nemiroff, Robert; Jerry, Bonnell (October 15, 2022). "GRB 221009A". Astronomy Picture of the Day. NASA. Retrieved January 12, 2023.
  12. Sahu, Sarira; Medina-Carrillo, B.; Sánchez-Colón, G.; Rajpoot, Subhash (2023). "Deciphering the ∼18 TeV Photons from GRB 221009A". The Astrophysical Journal Letters. 942 (L30): L30. arXiv:2211.04057. Bibcode:2023ApJ...942L..30S. doi:10.3847/2041-8213/acac2f. S2CID 253397820.
  13. Chinese Academy of Sciences (March 28, 2023). "Insight-HXMT and GECAM-C observations of the brightest-of-all-time GRB 221009A". Phys.org. Retrieved March 29, 2023.
  14. Smirnov, A.Y.; Trautner, A. (2022). "GRB 221009A Gamma Rays from Radiative Decay of Heavy Neutrinos?". arXiv:2211.00634 [hep-ph].
  15. Shrestha, Manisha; et al. (2023). "Limit on Supernova Emission in the Brightest Gamma-Ray Burst, GRB 221009A". The Astrophysical Journal Letters. 946 (1): L25. doi:10.3847/2041-8213/acbd50. S2CID 257405480.
  16. Fulton, M. D.; et al. (2023). "The Optical Light Curve of GRB 221009A: The Afterglow and the Emerging Supernova". The Astrophysical Journal Letters. 946 (1): L22. doi:10.3847/2041-8213/acc101. S2CID 257687906.
  17. Abbasi, R.; et al. (2023). "Limits on Neutrino Emission from GRB 221009A from MeV to PeV Using the IceCube Neutrino Observatory". The Astrophysical Journal Letters. 946 (1): L26. doi:10.3847/2041-8213/acc077. S2CID 256827599.
  18. Hayes, Laura A.; Gallagher, Peter T. (2023). "A Significant Sudden Ionospheric Disturbance Associated with Gamma-Ray Burst GRB 221009A". Research Notes of the AAS. American Astronomical Society. 6 (10): 222. doi:10.3847/2515-5172/ac9d2f. S2CID 253157644.
  19. Battiston, R.; et al. (2023). "Observation of Anomalous Electron Fluxes Induced by GRB221009A on CSES-01 Low-energy Charged Particle Detector". The Astrophysical Physics Journal Letters. 946 (1): L29. doi:10.3847/2041-8213/acc247. S2CID 257801868.
  20. Miller, Katrina (October 2022). "The 'Brightest of All Time' Gamma-Ray Burst Sparks a Supernova Hunt". Wired. Retrieved October 27, 2022.
  21. "Brightest Gamma-Ray Burst Yet Lit Up the Sky". Sky & Telescope. October 17, 2022. Retrieved October 27, 2022.
  22. Tiengo, Andrea; et al. (2023). "The Power of the Rings: The GRB 221009A Soft X-Ray Emission from Its Dust-scattering Halo". The Astrophysical Journal Letters. 946 (1): L30. doi:10.3847/2041-8213/acc1dc. S2CID 257079095.
  23. Maginot, Hannah (December 29, 2022). "NASA's IXPE Quickly Observes Aftermath of Incredible Cosmic Blast – "This Is Now or Never"". SciTech Daily. Retrieved January 12, 2023.
  24. "ESA spacecraft catch the brightest ever gamma-ray burst". European Space Agency. October 21, 2022. Retrieved January 12, 2023.
  25. "Telescopes Standing Sentry". NOIRLab. Retrieved January 17, 2023.
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