A giant flare that passed in front of Mars originated from a powerful neutron star in a galaxy 11.4 million light-years from Earth.
- NASA satellites detected a giant flare in April as it passed Mars
- Scientists say it came from a powerful neutron star 11.4 million light-years away
- This is the highest explosion detected since 2008 by NASA satellites
- Named GRB 200415A, it lasted milliseconds, but the updated instruments were able to capture enough data to follow a path back where it came from.
A giant explosion that swept the solar system in April sent researchers into space to discover the source of the high-energy explosion, and the hunt is finally over.
A group of researchers led by the University of Johannesburg revealed that the explosion, called GRB 200415A, was released from a magnet, a neutron star with a strong magnetic field, located in a spiral galaxy at 11.4. millions of light years away.
The dodged visitor flew in front of Mars in the early hours of April 15 and was captured by several satellites, including the International Space Station, which sparked the search outside the Milky Way and into the distant galaxy. NGC 253.
The burst, however, lasted only 140 milliseconds, but because advanced orbiting instruments were able to capture more data than the previous flare detected 13 years ago.
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A giant flare swept the solar system in April and sent researchers into space to discover the source of the high-energy explosion, and the hunt is finally over
The GRB 200415A was picked up at 04:42 am ET on April 15 by satellites and was the first known giant flare to be detected since 2008 by NASA’s Fermi gamma-ray space telescope.
The recent explosion was also detected by Fermi, along with the Swift, Mars Odyssey and Wind mission satellites and the European Space Agency’s INTEGRAL satellite.
Gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) are the brightest and most energetic events in the universe.
These can only be detected when the beams are aimed directly at the Earth.
The dodged visitor flew in front of Mars in the early hours of April 15 and was captured by several satellites, including the International Space Station, which sparked the search outside the Milky Way and into the distant galaxy. NGC 253 (artist print)
The GRB 200415A was picked up at 04:42 am ET on April 15 by satellites and was the first known giant flare to be detected since 2008 by NASA’s Fermi gamma-ray space telescope. The recent explosion was also detected by Fermi, along with the Swift, Mars Odyssey and Wind mission satellites.
Most of these take place billions of light-years away and can last from a few milliseconds to a few hours when observed from Earth.
Scientists have known for some time that supernovae sprout long GRBs, which burst for more than two seconds.
In 2017, a team determined that two neutron stars spiraling between them can also give off a short GRB.
The 2017 eruption came at a safe distance of 130 million light-years from Earth.
Researchers first believed it was a brief burst of gamma rays, but later research determined it came from a magnet.
Professor Soebur Razzaque of the University of Johannesburg said: “There are tens of thousands of neutron stars in the Milky Way.”
“Of these, only 30 are known to be currently magnetic.”
Magnetars are up to a thousand times more magnetic than normal neutron stars.
‘Most emit X-rays from time to time. But so far we only know a handful of magnets that produced giant flares. The brightest we could detect was in 2004 ”.
“Then came GRB 200415A in 2020.”
If the next giant GRB flare passes closer to our galaxy, the Milky Way, a powerful ground-based radio telescope like the MeerKAT in South Africa, may be able to detect it, he says.
“This would be a great opportunity to study the relationship between very high energy gamma-ray emissions and radio wave emissions in the second explosion. And that would tell us more about what works and doesn’t work in the our model “.