Gamma ray bursts (GRBs) are among the most energetic explosions since the Big Bang – and now astronomers have detected the most powerful one yet. A beam of high-energy radiation up to 18 times more powerful than the previous record swept over Earth last weekend.
The signal, designated GRB 221009A, was detected on October 9 – although the explosion itself occurred 1.9 billion years ago. It came from the direction of the constellation Sagitta, and was visible to telescopes for more than 10 hours, making it one of the longest-lasting GRBs detected.
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That’s not the only odd thing about it – GRB 221009A was found to deliver the highest energy of any GRB ever detected. The energy of these events is usually measured in giga-electronvolts (GeV), but a few have been recorded with energies of about 1 tera-electronvolt (TeV). But this new event may have reached a record-breaking 18 TeV, marking the first detection of a GRB with energies above 10 TeV.
Read more: New Atlas
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