When you purchase through golf links on our site , we may clear an affiliate mission . Here ’s how it work .
TheJames Webb Space Telescopehas discovered the cause of the most powerful cosmic explosion since the Big Bang .
The blowup ( nicknamedthe BOAT or " brightest of all sentence " ) is a gamma - ray outburst ( GRB ) that spat photon at Earth with more vigor than those find inside the Large Hadron Collider . This light was detected by telescopes in orbital cavity and on the ground on October 9 , 2022 , and came from 2.4 billion light - class away in the constellation Sagitta .
An artist’s illustration of a gamma ray burst.
Now , a team of scientists have tracked down BOAT ’s likely origins to a gigantic supernova that came after the collapse of a giant star .
Yet their research let on a new mystery — supernovas such as the one behind the gravy boat are supposed to be cosmic factory for heavy elements such as Pt and Au , but when the researchers appear , they feel no grounds for them . The scientist published their findings April 12 in the journalNature Astronomy .
" When we confirmed that the GRB was sire by the flop of a massive whizz , that gave us the opportunity to test a hypothesis for how some of the sullen elements in the universe of discourse are formed , " tether study authorPeter Blanchard , an astrophysicist at Northwestern University , tell in a program line . " We did not see signature of these heavy elements , suggesting that highly gumptious GRBs like the BOAT do not bring forth these element .
How the Swift observatory saw the gamma-ray burst GRB221009A, which may be the most energetic emission of this kind ever seen by astronomers.
“ That does n’t imply that all GRBs do not bring out them , ” Blanchard add up , “ but it ’s a primal art object of information as we go on to realise where these heavy elements come from . "
link : James Webb scope confirms there is something seriously wrong with our understanding of the universe
When a massive lead lead out of fuel , it give way before exploding outwards in a gigantic supernova plosion , leaving behind an ultra - dull neutron star or ablack hole . It is these stellar explosions — and occasionally evencollisions between two neutron stars — that acquire powerful bursts ofgamma raysthat can be picked up by observatories in space and even on Earth .
The first da Gamma - ray bursts were detected accidentally by US military satellites in the sixties . Since then , they have continued to pink up on equipment that is able-bodied to detect their high - vim lighting . But when the BOAT appear , it was at least 10 multiplication brighter than any other cosmic detonation ever witnessed .
" The event develop some of the high - vim photons ever recorded by planet design to detect da Gamma ray , " Blanchard said . " This was an event that Earth sees only once every 10,000 eld . ”
The burst was so bright , in fact , that the uranologist had to waitress six calendar month for it to die down before they could practice theJames Webb Space Telescopeto see at it directly .
" The GRB was so bright that it veil any potential supernova key signature in the first week and month after the burst , " Blanchard say . " At these times , the so - called afterglow of the GRB was like the headlights of a car coming straight at you , prevent you from seeing the gondola itself . So , we had to expect for it to fade significantly to give us a chance of learn the supernova . "
— ' It could be profound ' : How astronomer Wendy Freedman is trying to fix the existence
— James Webb telescope discovers oldest dark gob in the cosmos
— 8 arresting James Webb Space Telescope breakthrough made in 2023
After point the JWST ’s Near Infrared Spectrograph ( NIRSpec ) instrument towards the informant of the explosion , the researcher found signatures of elements such as atomic number 8 and calcium , which are unremarkably base within supernova . But they did n’t encounter any element sullen than iron among the rubble , potentially ruling out vivid explosion such as the BOAT as heavy metal producer .
And amazingly , despite the extreme brightness of the gamma - ray burst , the supernova it came from was of fairly average brightness . It ’s possible , according to the researchers , that the BOAT acquire its extraordinary intensity from the exploding mavin ’s textile being funneled alongan remarkably narrow relativistic jet — a skinny - light - speed stream of charged subject .
" It ’s like focusing a flashlight ’s beam into a narrow column , as opposed to a unspecific beam that lave across a whole wall , " co - authorTanmoy Laskar , an assistant professor of physics at the University of Utah , said in the command . " In fact , this was one of the narrowest cat valium seen for a gamma - ray burst so far , which gives us a hint as to why the afterglow seem as bright as it did . There may be other broker responsible for as well , a question that researchers will be studying for days to come . "
The researcher say their next step will be to use the JWST to look at other supernovas . Contrasting their unlike luminousness , jets , chemical elements and innkeeper wandflower characteristics could help them figure out just how unusual the BOAT was , and the conditions under which the universe ’s heavy element are made .
