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GRB 221009A The position of the explosion moment in the LHAASO field of view. Institute of High Energy, Chinese Academy of Sciences provided by
Institute of High Energy Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences (Institute of High Energy, Chinese Academy of Sciences) is responsible for the construction and operation management of the three major scientific devices, including the China High Altitude Cosmic Ray Observation Station (LHAASO, nicknamed "Lacau"), "High Energy Explorator" (HEBS) and "Insight-HXMT). Recently, through the cooperation of heaven and earth, the brightest number GRB 221009A gamma ray burst , breaking many records of gamma ray bursts in the universe such as gamma ray bursts, the brightest gamma ray , etc.
is more than 10 times brighter than the brightest gamma ray burst in the past
The Institute of High Energy of the Chinese Academy of Sciences introduced that the brightest GRB 221009A gamma ray burst in history was detected simultaneously by the three major scientific devices of the institute at 21:17 Beijing time on October 9. In this observation, "Lacau" increased the maximum energy record of gamma ray exposure photons by nearly 20 times, opening the gamma ray burst observation window in the 10 trillion electron volt band for the first time in the world. Together with the observations of "Smart Eye" satellites and "High Energy Blast Explorer", it was found that this cosmic event was more than 10 times brighter than the brightest gamma ray burst observed by humans in the past.
gamma ray burst is the most violent celestial explosion phenomenon in the universe, and was first discovered in the 1960s. Gamma ray bursts are as short as a few milliseconds and for hours, releasing more energy than the sum of the sun's radiated energy in its lifetime. Gamma ray bursts with longer durations occur when the collapse explosion of star bodies dozens of times larger than the sun, while gamma ray bursts with shorter durations occur when two dense celestial bodies (such as black holes or neutron star ) merge and explode, which may also be accompanied by gravitational waves emitted.
Thanks to the rapid development of the integrated observation capacity of the Chinese Academy of Sciences' Institute of High Energy in recent years, especially the successful construction and operation of "Lack" has occupied an international leading position, which has enabled China to achieve multi-mean joint observation of gamma ray bursts for the first time, and exclusively achieved multi-spectral fine measurements from the highest ten trillion electron volt photons ("Lack") to million electron volt gamma rays ("High Energy Explorer") and thousands of electron volt X-rays ("Xieyan" satellites), spanning 9 orders of magnitude.
High-energy physicists believe that these observations break many gamma ray burst observation records and are of great value for revealing the burst mechanism of gamma ray bursts.
Timely releases observation results to the international community, which caused a huge response
The Institute of High Energy of the Chinese Academy of Sciences pointed out that the high-intensity explosion of the GRB 221009A gamma ray burst observed this time occurred more than 2 billion light years from the earth. The gamma ray burst at such a close distance is estimated to occur once every decades or even a hundred years. Among the thousands of gamma-ray bursts detected over the past half-century, the highest energy photon has reached about 1 trillion electron volts. "Lacau" detected a large number of high-energy photons with an unparalleled reception this time, with the highest photon energy reaching 18 trillion electron volts.
GRB 221009A After the gamma ray burst occurred, the "Racau" experiment team of the Institute of High Energy of the Chinese Academy of Sciences quickly carried out data analysis under the leadership of researcher Cao Zhen, chief scientist, and released preliminary observation results to international peers through the Gamma ray burst Collaborative Observation Network (GCN) within less than two days after the outbreak. Further data analysis and scientific research are being carried out by members of the "Lacau" International Cooperation Group. The observation and operation team, payload team and data analysis team of the Institute of High Energy of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the "Huiyan" satellite and the "High Energy Explorator" observation and operation team, payload team and data analysis team of the "Huiyan" satellite chief scientist Zhang Shuangnan researcher and the "High Energy Explorator" project, are quickly investing in observation and analysis, and timely launching opportunity observation. With the close cooperation of the project team, the "Xiyan" satellite and the "High Energy Explorator" have obtained preliminary analysis results and have been released to international peers through the astronomical telegraph and the Gamma-ray burst collaborative observation network.
The results of Chinese scientists detecting the brightest gamma-ray burst so far have caused a huge response internationally. A large number of related research has been rapidly unfolding, and many discussions on the possibilities of new physics have emerged.At the same time, these measurements will strongly limit basic physical parameters and models such as background light fields present in the universe, and are expected to produce important improvements in cognitive levels.
is extremely important for establishing a gamma ray burst burst mechanism model
Research team of the Institute of High Energy of the Chinese Academy of Sciences said that this time, the "crack" recorded tens of thousands of photon signals in a very high energy area above 100 billion electron volts, which will give the most refined measurement of the optical change curve of the highest energy segment of the gamma ray burst. With the advanced detector design, the "High Energy Breaking Explorer" successfully conducted high-precision observations on the soft gamma ray light-changing characteristics of the GRB 221009A gamma ray burst, perfectly demonstrating the evolution process of initial bursts and subsequent flashes. The high-energy, medium-energy and low-energy X-ray telescope of the "Xiyan" satellite detected a signal simultaneously in gamma-ray burst observation for the first time. Moreover, because the "Xiyan" satellite was scanning and observing the sky area at that time, it promptly monitored the afterglow of the brightest gamma-ray burst to date. These measurements with a 1 billion-fold difference in energy are extremely important for establishing a correct model of gamma-ray burst mechanism.
"Cable" is a major national scientific and technological infrastructure with cosmic ray observation and research as the core. It was independently proposed and designed and built by China. The observation station is located at Haizishan at an altitude of 4410 meters in Daocheng County, Sichuan Province. The main project was completed and put into scientific operation in July 2021. It is currently the world's most sensitive ultra-high energy gamma ray observatory. Its operation has opened the observation era of "ultra-high energy gamma astronomy". Capturing and high-statistic observation of gamma-ray bursts are one of the important scientific goals of "Lack" and this unprecedented burst of brightness happens near the center of the "Lack" field of view, laying a strong observation foundation for completing this scientific goal.
"Xiyan" satellite is China's first space X-ray astronomical satellite. It was launched and operated in June 2017. Over the past five years of in-orbit observation, it has achieved a large number of important original results in black holes, neutron stars, fast radio bursts, etc.
"High Energy Explorator" was launched in July 2022. It is one of the main scientific payloads of the new space technology test of satellite recently launched by China. It adopts the new detection technology pioneered by the "Huairou One" satellite and a quasi-real-time satellite-ground communication solution based on Beidou short messages, and can quickly upload observation data. "High Energy Breaking Explorer" is currently in the on-orbit testing stage and is expected to achieve more important results.
This issue edited by Zhou Xiaojing
