The burst is known as GRB 221009A
.O.A.T. ("The Brightest of All Time"
,
It was found to occur once every 10,000 years and was 70 times brighter than any seen before.
The supernova was discovered using the powerful next-generation James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), said researchers at Northwestern University in the US, who were also among the international group of scientists that discovered B.O.A.T.
In research published in the journal Nature Astronomy, the team speculates that evidence of heavy elements, such as platinum and gold, may be present within the newly discovered supernova.
The team's extensive search did not find evidence of these elements, yet it was noted that the origin of heavy elements in the universe remains one of astronomy's biggest open questions.
"When we confirmed that GRBs were generated by the collapse of a massive star, that gave us the opportunity to test a hypothesis about how some of the heavier elements are formed in the universe," said lead author Peter Blanchard, a postdoctoral fellow at the Northwestern Center."For Interdisciplinary Exploration and Research in Astrophysics (CIERA).
"We did not see signatures of these heavy elements, which suggests that highly energetic GRBs like BOAT do not produce these elements. This means that not all GRBs produce them, but that "There is an important piece of information we need to continue to understand about where these heavy elements come from. Future observations with JWST will determine whether B.O.A.T.'s 'normal' cousins produce these elements," he said.
Blanchard began his search about six months after the initial discovery of GRBs.That's because the GRB was so bright that it obscured any potential supernova signatures in the first weeks and months after the explosion, he said.
Using JWST's Near Infrared Spectrograph they observed the object's light in infrared wavelengths and found distinctive signatures of elements such as calcium and oxygen commonly found within supernovae.
"Surprisingly, it was not exceptionally bright
," He said.
.O.A.T. ("The Brightest of All Time"
,
It was found to occur once every 10,000 years and was 70 times brighter than any seen before.
The supernova was discovered using the powerful next-generation James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), said researchers at Northwestern University in the US, who were also among the international group of scientists that discovered B.O.A.T.
In research published in the journal Nature Astronomy, the team speculates that evidence of heavy elements, such as platinum and gold, may be present within the newly discovered supernova.
The team's extensive search did not find evidence of these elements, yet it was noted that the origin of heavy elements in the universe remains one of astronomy's biggest open questions.
"When we confirmed that GRBs were generated by the collapse of a massive star, that gave us the opportunity to test a hypothesis about how some of the heavier elements are formed in the universe," said lead author Peter Blanchard, a postdoctoral fellow at the Northwestern Center."For Interdisciplinary Exploration and Research in Astrophysics (CIERA).
"We did not see signatures of these heavy elements, which suggests that highly energetic GRBs like BOAT do not produce these elements. This means that not all GRBs produce them, but that "There is an important piece of information we need to continue to understand about where these heavy elements come from. Future observations with JWST will determine whether B.O.A.T.'s 'normal' cousins produce these elements," he said.
Blanchard began his search about six months after the initial discovery of GRBs.That's because the GRB was so bright that it obscured any potential supernova signatures in the first weeks and months after the explosion, he said.
Using JWST's Near Infrared Spectrograph they observed the object's light in infrared wavelengths and found distinctive signatures of elements such as calcium and oxygen commonly found within supernovae.
"Surprisingly, it was not exceptionally bright
," He said.
