고에너지 방사선의 이상하고 오래 지속되는 펄스가 지구를 휩쓸었습니다.

천문학자들은 GRB 221009A가 붕괴하는 별의 핵 내부에 형성된 새로운 블랙홀의 탄생을 의미한다고 믿고 있습니다. 이 그림에서 블랙홀은 빛의 속도로 접근하는 강력한 입자 제트를 몰아내고 있습니다. 제트는 별을 관통하여 우주를 통과할 때 X선과 감마선을 방출합니다. 크레딧: NASA/Swift/Cruz de Wilde

NASA의 Swift 및 Fermi 임무는 특별한 우주 폭발을 감지합니다.

10월 9일 일요일, 비정상적으로 밝고 고에너지 복사 펄스가 지구를 휩쓸어 전 세계의 천문학자들을 놀라게 했습니다. 강렬한 방출은 우주에서 가장 강력한 폭발 등급인 감마선 폭발(GRB)에서 비롯된 것으로 알려진 가장 밝은 사건 중 하나입니다.

일주일 전 일요일 아침 ET, X선과 감마선의 파동이 태양계를 통과했습니다. 온보드 감지기가 트리거되도록 합니다.[{” attribute=””>NASA’s Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope, Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory, and Wind spacecraft, as well as others. Around the world, telescopes were turned to the site to study the aftermath, and new observations continue.

Swift’s X-Ray Telescope captured the afterglow of GRB 221009A about an hour after it was first detected. The bright rings form as a result of X-rays scattered from otherwise unobservable dust layers within our galaxy that lie in the direction of the burst. Credit: Credit: NASA/Swift/A. Beardmore (University of Leicester)

Called GRB 221009A, the explosion provided an unexpectedly exciting start to the 10th Fermi Symposium, a gathering of gamma-ray astronomers now underway in Johannesburg, South Africa. “It’s safe to say this meeting really kicked off with a bang – everyone’s talking about this,” said Judy Racusin, a Fermi deputy project scientist at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, who is attending the conference.

천문학자들은 GRB 221009A가 중생을 의미한다고 믿습니다.[{” attribute=””>black hole formed within the heart of a collapsing star. As illustrated here, the black hole drives powerful jets of particles traveling near the speed of light. The jets pierce through the star, emitting X-rays and gamma rays as they stream into space. Credit: NASA/Swift/Cruz deWilde

Originating from the direction of the constellation Sagitta, the signal traveled an estimated 1.9 billion years to reach Earth. Many astronomers believe it represents the birth cry of a new black hole, one that formed in the heart of a massive star collapsing under its own weight. In these circumstances, a developing black hole drives powerful jets of particles traveling near the speed of light. The energetic jets pierce through the star, emitting X-rays and gamma rays as they stream into space.

This sequence constructed from Fermi Large Area Telescope data reveals the sky in gamma rays centered on the location of GRB 221009A. Each frame shows gamma rays with energies greater than 100 million electron volts (MeV), where brighter colors indicate a stronger gamma-ray signal. In total, they represent more than 10 hours of observations. The glow from the midplane of our Milky Way galaxy appears as a wide diagonal band. The image is about 20 degrees across. Credit: NASA/DOE/Fermi LAT Collaboration

The burst also provided a long-awaited inaugural observing opportunity for a link between two experiments on the International Space Station (ISS) – NASA’s NICER X-ray telescope and a Japanese detector called the Monitor of All-sky X-ray Image (MAXI). Activated in April, the connection is dubbed the Orbiting High-energy Monitor Alert Network (OHMAN). It allows NICER to rapidly turn to outbursts detected by MAXI, actions that previously required intervention by scientists on the ground.

“OHMAN provided an automated alert that enabled NICER to follow up within three hours, as soon as the source became visible to the telescope,” said Zaven Arzoumanian, the NICER science lead at Goddard. “Future opportunities could result in response times of a few minutes.”

Images taken in visible light by Swift’s Ultraviolet/Optical Telescope show how the afterglow of GRB 221009A (circled) faded over the course of about 10 hours. The explosion appeared in the constellation Sagitta and occurred 1.9 billion years ago. The image is about 4 arcminutes across. Credit: NASA/Swift/B. Cenko

The light from this ancient explosion brings with it valuable new insights into stellar collapse, the birth of a black hole, the behavior and interaction of matter near the speed of light, the conditions in a distant galaxy – and much more. Astronomers may not detect another GRB this bright for decades.

Fermi’s Large Area Telescope (LAT) detected the burst for more than 10 hours, according to a preliminary analysis. One reason for the burst’s exceptional brightness and longevity is that, for a GRB, it lies relatively close to us.

“This burst is much closer than typical GRBs, which is exciting because it allows us to detect many details that otherwise would be too faint to see,” said Roberta Pillera, a Fermi LAT Collaboration member who led initial communications about the burst and a doctoral student at the Polytechnic University of Bari, Italy. “But it’s also among the most energetic and luminous bursts ever seen regardless of distance, making it doubly exciting.”