Astronomers discovered one of the most energy explosions in the history of the universe – the surge of the gamma-ray caused a clash of two neutron stars. For the first time, the formation of heavy metals was discovered as a result of this explosion, the total weight of which is hundreds of masses of the Earth.
Bursts of gamma rays (GRB) are the most energy known events since the large explosion, releasing the same energy in a few seconds, How much the sun is in its entire 10 millionth life. It is believed that they are part of the signal released during some supernovae or in the collision of pairs of neutron stars.
The recently described event designated as GRB 230307A belongs to the last category. It was first discovered by the telescope NASA Fermi Gamma-ray Space this year was the second in power GRB, yielding only to the surge, which occurred in October 2022. This surge was not only extremely bright, but also lasted 200 seconds – 100 times longer than the majority of GRB caused by clashes of neutron stars.
The James Webb telescope was aimed at the scene for a more detailed study. As a result, the GRB was tracked to the intergalactic space, at a distance of 120,000 light years from the nearest galaxy.
The most significant opening was that the telescope first discovered a spectral imprint of Tellur. On Earth, this heavy metal is less common, however, apparently, it is widespread in the universe. For a long time, it was assumed that the tellurium is formed during the clashes of neutron stars, and now this was confirmed. Researchers appreciated that as a result of the explosion, the number of telluriums was formed, equal to a mass of approximately 300 lands, as well as other elements, for example, iodine.
“This discovery is a big step forward in our understanding of the places formation heavy elements universe and demonstrates force combining observations different wavelengths to identify new aspects such extremely energy explosions,” said Benjamin Schneider, a co-researcher.