November 22, 2024

NASA Tracks the Brightest Cosmic Event Ever Recorded – “This Thing’s Crazy!”

Astronomers believe a long GRB (gamma-ray burst) occurs from a massive, quickly turning star when its core runs out of fuel and collapses, forming a black hole in the stars. The “Time Domain” part refers to events that occur in the universe that telescopes can observe as they unfold, such as a supernova or the merger of 2 neutron stars. Neutron stars collide with black holes, neutron stars clash with neutron stars, and black holes merge with black holes. Thanks to infrared data from NASAs James Webb Space Telescope, scientists identified that GRB 230307A may have had a very various origin: the merger of 2 neutron stars about a billion light-years away from Earth.”Time-domain astronomy lets us get fundamental answers on the homes of the universe, of fundamental physics itself, and the origin of the aspects,” Burns said.This image from NASAs James Webb Space Telescope NIRCam (Near-Infrared Camera) instrument highlights Gamma-Ray Burst (GRB) 230307A and its associated kilonova, as well as its previous home galaxy, among their local environment of other galaxies and foreground stars.

Astronomers believe a long GRB (gamma-ray burst) develops from a huge, quickly rotating star when its core runs out of fuel and collapses, forming a black hole in the stars. The “Time Domain” part refers to occasions that occur in the universe that telescopes can observe as they unfold, such as a supernova or the merger of 2 neutron stars. Neutron stars collide with black holes, neutron stars collide with neutron stars, and black holes combine with black holes.