Researchers were thrilled by the discovery of a monumental gamma-ray burst.
In October 2022, NASA’s Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope, along with the Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory, detected an enormous explosion.
This gamma-ray burst (GRB), officially named GRB221009A, made history by being the brightest ever recorded, often referred to as the BOAT.
Gamma-ray bursts are described by scientists as ‘transient flashes of high-energy photons from cosmological distances produced when a black hole drives a relativistic jet pointing toward Earth’.
Wen-fai Fong, an associate professor of physics and astronomy and leader of the Fong Group at Northwestern, who was one of the discoverers of BOAT, stated: “As long as we have been able to detect GRBs, there is no question that this GRB is the brightest we have ever witnessed by a factor of 10 or more.
“Because the GRB is so bright, we expect to be able to monitor it for several months. It’s currently in its infancy, and we are learning more with each new passing observation.”
Maria Edvige Ravasio, the research leader from Radboud University, added: “A few minutes after the BOAT erupted, Fermi’s Gamma-ray Burst Monitor recorded an unusual energy peak that caught our attention.
“When I first saw that signal, it gave me goosebumps. Our analysis since then shows it to be the first high-confidence emission line ever seen in 50 years of studying GRBs.”
According to Space.com, this event has been labeled as possibly the largest explosion since the Big Bang.
To understand the magnitude of these GRBs, if one were to occur within a few thousand light-years of Earth, it could nearly wipe out our entire planet.
Regarding the GRB observed in 2022, it’s believed that such an event would only be visible from Earth once every 10,000 years.
Although the GRB did not destroy Earth, it did have an impact on our atmosphere.
Last year, it was revealed that one of the many layers of Earth’s atmosphere was disturbed at an altitude of around 310 miles, which is considered the top half of the atmosphere.
The detected disturbances refer to a change in the electric field of the upper atmosphere.
The cause of the famous GRB is believed to be the collapse of a massive star with up to 30 times the mass of our sun.