Chinese astronomers detect record-breaking gamma-ray burst
Chinese astronomers detected the brightest flash of light ever seen from an event likely triggered by the formation of a black hole.
China's three detectors – the Large High-Altitude Air Shower Observatory (LHAASO), orbiting High Energy Burst Searcher (HEBS) and the "Insight" Hard X-ray Modulation Telescope (Insight-HXMT) – observed the unusual bright and long-lasting pulse of high-energy radiation from a gamma-ray burst at 9:17 p.m. Beijing Time on October 9, according to the Institute of High Energy Physics under Chinese Academy of Sciences.
Called GRB 221009A, the explosion and its afterglow have been witnessed by scientists across the world.
The signal, originating from the direction of the constellation Sagitta, had traveled an estimated 1.9 billion years to reach Earth, said U.S. space agency NASA.
It's the first time China has detected a gamma-ray burst with an observatory on Earth and orbiting satellites at the same time. The joint application of the three detectors made a more precise observation in multiple spectral bands. Read More...
