Astronomers Studying Effects of Brightest Light Burst Ever Seen
2022-10-20
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1Astronomers have observed the brightest burst of light ever seen, from an event that happened 2.4 billion light-years from Earth.
2A light year is about 9.4 trillion kilometers.
3The scientists say the burst was probably caused when a black hole formed.
4Gamma rays are among the most intense forms of electromagnetic radiation.
5The burst was first noted by orbiting telescopes on Sunday.
6Scientists across the world are continuing to observe its effects.
7Astrophysicist Brendan O'Connor spoke to the French News Agency.
8He said gamma ray bursts that last hundreds of seconds, as this one did, are thought to be caused when massive stars explode.
9Such stars are about 30 times the size of the Sun.
10The massive star explosion, called a supernova, results in a massive black hole.
11A disk of matter forms around the black hole as it falls inside the massive object.
12Energy is also expelled away from the black hole in a jet.
13The expelled energy moves at 99.99 percent the speed of light.
14The gamma ray burst released photons carrying a record amount of energy.
15It affected longwave radio communications in Earth's ionosphere.
16"It's really breaking records, both in the amount of photons, and the energy of the photons that are reaching us," said O'Connor.
17The scientist used infrared instruments on the Gemini South telescope in Chile to take new observations recently.
18"Something this bright, this nearby, is really a once-in-a-century event," he added.
19"Gamma ray bursts in general release the same amount of energy that our sun produces over its entire lifetime" in just a few seconds, he noted.
20"And this event is the brightest gamma ray burst," O'Conner said.
21The gamma ray burst was first found by telescopes including NASA's Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope, the Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory, and the Wind spacecraft on Sunday.
22The burst came from the direction of the constellation Sagitta and traveled an estimated 1.9 billion years to reach Earth.
23That is less than the current distance of its starting point because of the expansion of the universe.
24Observing the event now is like watching a 1.9 billion-year-old recording of those events.
25Astronomers have the rare chance to learn more about black hole formation and other mysteries.
26O'Connor works with the University of Maryland and George Washington University.
27He said he and others will continue watching for the expected signs of supernovas at different wavelengths.
28The researchers aim to confirm that their theory about the burst's beginnings is correct, and that the event obeys the laws of physics.
29Supernova explosions are also predicted to be responsible for producing heavy elements such as gold, platinum and uranium.
30Astronomers will also be hunting for those heavy metals.
31I'm Caty Weaver.
1Astronomers have observed the brightest burst of light ever seen, from an event that happened 2.4 billion light-years from Earth. A light year is about 9.4 trillion kilometers. 2The scientists say the burst was probably caused when a black hole formed. 3Gamma rays are among the most intense forms of electromagnetic radiation. The burst was first noted by orbiting telescopes on Sunday. Scientists across the world are continuing to observe its effects. 4Astrophysicist Brendan O'Connor spoke to the French News Agency. He said gamma ray bursts that last hundreds of seconds, as this one did, are thought to be caused when massive stars explode. Such stars are about 30 times the size of the Sun. 5The massive star explosion, called a supernova, results in a massive black hole. A disk of matter forms around the black hole as it falls inside the massive object. Energy is also expelled away from the black hole in a jet. The expelled energy moves at 99.99 percent the speed of light. 6The gamma ray burst released photons carrying a record amount of energy. It affected longwave radio communications in Earth's ionosphere. 7"It's really breaking records, both in the amount of photons, and the energy of the photons that are reaching us," said O'Connor. The scientist used infrared instruments on the Gemini South telescope in Chile to take new observations recently. 8"Something this bright, this nearby, is really a once-in-a-century event," he added. 9"Gamma ray bursts in general release the same amount of energy that our sun produces over its entire lifetime" in just a few seconds, he noted. 10"And this event is the brightest gamma ray burst," O'Conner said. 11The gamma ray burst was first found by telescopes including NASA's Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope, the Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory, and the Wind spacecraft on Sunday. 121.9 billion-year-old movie 13The burst came from the direction of the constellation Sagitta and traveled an estimated 1.9 billion years to reach Earth. That is less than the current distance of its starting point because of the expansion of the universe. 14Observing the event now is like watching a 1.9 billion-year-old recording of those events. Astronomers have the rare chance to learn more about black hole formation and other mysteries. 15O'Connor works with the University of Maryland and George Washington University. He said he and others will continue watching for the expected signs of supernovas at different wavelengths. The researchers aim to confirm that their theory about the burst's beginnings is correct, and that the event obeys the laws of physics. 16Supernova explosions are also predicted to be responsible for producing heavy elements such as gold, platinum and uranium. Astronomers will also be hunting for those heavy metals. 17I'm Caty Weaver. 18Agence France-Presse reported this story. Caty Weaver adapted it for VOA Learning English. 19_____________________________________________________________ 20Words in This Story 21black hole -n. the remnant of a massive star which has such powerful gravity that even light cannot escape 22astrophysicist - n. a scientist who studies the physical and chemical properties and structure of stars and outer space objects 23disk - n. a flat, round object 24photon - n. a particle of light 25ionosphere - n. a part of the atmosphere from 70 to 400 kilometers above the Earth in which the sun's radiation affects the transmission of radio waves 26infrared - n. a wavelength of electromagnetic radiation that cannot be seen with the human eye 27constellation - n. a group of start that form a shape in the sky and that has a name and often a story about it 28_________________________________________________________________ 29What do you think of this story? 30We want to hear from you. We have a new comment system. Here is how it works: 31Each time you return to comment on the Learning English site, you can use your account and see your comments and replies to them. Our comment policy is here.