02/04/2023
A pulse of intense radiation swept through our solar system that astronomers nicknamed the BOAT: the brightest of all time.
Several NASA missions have followed up to study this gamma-ray burst, which scientists believe was caused by the birth of a black hole that formed when the core of a massive star collapsed under its own weight.
As that new black hole quickly consumes surrounding matter, it blasts out jets of material in opposite directions that contain particles accelerated to almost the speed of light, emitting X-rays and gamma rays as they stream into space.
After such an event, astronomers expected to detect a supernova in the weeks following, but haven’t found it so far – though the burst did occur in a part of the sky just a few degrees above the plane of our Milky Way Galaxy, where thick dust cam dim incoming light.
Astronomers have used Hubble and NASA's James Webb Space Telescope to try and detect this supernova since the telescopes’ infrared capabilities can peer through cosmic dust. It’s proven elusive so far, but future observations are planned over the next few months.
This Hubble image combines observations taken one and two months after the eruption, and shows the infrared afterglow of the gamma-ray burst, designated by the small, superimposed circle. Given its brightness, the burst's afterglow may remain detectable by telescopes for years to come.
Find out more: https://go.nasa.gov/3Kf3NXD
Image credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, A. Levan (Radboud University); Image Processing: Gladys Kober
