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rings of red particles radiate outward from bright yellow center
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Swift telescope captures brightest gamma-ray burst ever recorded

2 November 2022

On October 9, 2022, an unusually bright and long-lasting gamma-ray burst—the most powerful type of explosion in the universe—was detected by the Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory, whose Mission Operations Center is located at Penn State and led by Professor of Astronomy and Astrophysics John Nousek. The burst—the brightest ever recorded, called GRB 221009A—originated from the death of a massive star about two billion light years away, likely collapsing to form a black hole and sending gamma rays, X-rays, and other particles into space.

A striking image of the burst’s afterglow was captured by Swift’s X-Ray Telescope, which is led by Penn State Research Professor of Astronomy and Astrophysics Jamie Kennea and was originally built under the leadership of Professor of Astronomy and Astrophysics David Burrows. Swift and other observatories are continuing to observe the aftermath of the event, which could help provide new insights into stellar collapse, the birth of a black hole, and the conditions in distant galaxies.

Image
rings of red particles radiate outward from bright yellow center
Swift’s X-Ray Telescope captured the afterglow of an incredibly bright gamma ray burst called 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: NASA/Swift/A. Beardmore (University of Leicester)
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Gail McCormick
Science Writer