A new paper proposes that the record-setting gamma ray burst that reached Earth on Oct. 9, 2022, was so bright and so long-lasting because it both originated in and mixed with a star as it collapsed into a black hole.
The once-in-a-millennium blast of energy — later dubbed the Brightest of All Time (BOAT) — has continued to puzzle scientists, who say it was 70 times brighter than the second most powerful burst on record. An explanation would help to demystify the tremendous outpourings of energy, which are detectable from billions of light years away.
Scientists believe gamma ray bursts come from the formation of black holes, especially those that form when massive stars run out of fuel and collapse in on themselves.
Great jets of energy — including gamma rays, the highest-energy form of light — shoot their way out of the star and into the universe where they ...
