Deciphering the ∼18 TeV Photons from GRB 221009A
On 2022 October 9, an extremely powerful gamma-ray burst, GRB 221009A, was detected by several instruments. Despite being obstructed by the Milky Way galaxy, its afterglow outburst outshone all other GRBs seen before. LHAASO detected several thousand very high energy photons extending up to 18 TeV....
| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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IOP Publishing
2023-01-01
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| Series: | The Astrophysical Journal Letters |
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| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.3847/2041-8213/acac2f |
| _version_ | 1797695808603160576 |
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| author | Sarira Sahu B. Medina-Carrillo G. Sánchez-Colón Subhash Rajpoot |
| author_facet | Sarira Sahu B. Medina-Carrillo G. Sánchez-Colón Subhash Rajpoot |
| author_sort | Sarira Sahu |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | On 2022 October 9, an extremely powerful gamma-ray burst, GRB 221009A, was detected by several instruments. Despite being obstructed by the Milky Way galaxy, its afterglow outburst outshone all other GRBs seen before. LHAASO detected several thousand very high energy photons extending up to 18 TeV. Detection of such energetic photons is unexpected due to the large opacity of the universe. It is possible that in the afterglow epoch, the intrinsic very high energy photon flux from the source might have increased manifolds, which could compensate for the attenuation by pair production with the extragalactic background light. We propose such a scenario and show that very high energy photons can be observed on the Earth from the interaction of very high energy protons with the seed synchrotron photons in the external forward shock region of the GRB jet. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-12T03:17:32Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-e7827179255a44d5a7e5c6aa8b78313a |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2041-8205 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-12T03:17:32Z |
| publishDate | 2023-01-01 |
| publisher | IOP Publishing |
| record_format | Article |
| series | The Astrophysical Journal Letters |
| spelling | doaj.art-e7827179255a44d5a7e5c6aa8b78313a2023-09-03T14:08:27ZengIOP PublishingThe Astrophysical Journal Letters2041-82052023-01-019422L3010.3847/2041-8213/acac2fDeciphering the ∼18 TeV Photons from GRB 221009ASarira Sahu0https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0038-5548B. Medina-Carrillo1G. Sánchez-Colón2https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0291-2412Subhash Rajpoot3https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1967-7217Instituto de Ciencias Nucleares, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México , Circuito Exterior S/N, C.U., A. P. 70-543, CDMX 04510, Mexico sarira@nucleares.unam.mxDepartamento de Física Aplicada, Centro de Investigación y de Estudios Avanzados del IPN , Unidad Mérida, A.P. 73, Cordemex, Mérida, Yucatán 97310, MexicoDepartamento de Física Aplicada, Centro de Investigación y de Estudios Avanzados del IPN , Unidad Mérida, A.P. 73, Cordemex, Mérida, Yucatán 97310, MexicoDepartment of Physics and Astronomy, California State University , 1250 Bellflower Boulevard, Long Beach, CA 90840, USAOn 2022 October 9, an extremely powerful gamma-ray burst, GRB 221009A, was detected by several instruments. Despite being obstructed by the Milky Way galaxy, its afterglow outburst outshone all other GRBs seen before. LHAASO detected several thousand very high energy photons extending up to 18 TeV. Detection of such energetic photons is unexpected due to the large opacity of the universe. It is possible that in the afterglow epoch, the intrinsic very high energy photon flux from the source might have increased manifolds, which could compensate for the attenuation by pair production with the extragalactic background light. We propose such a scenario and show that very high energy photons can be observed on the Earth from the interaction of very high energy protons with the seed synchrotron photons in the external forward shock region of the GRB jet.https://doi.org/10.3847/2041-8213/acac2fGamma-ray burstsParticle astrophysics |
| spellingShingle | Sarira Sahu B. Medina-Carrillo G. Sánchez-Colón Subhash Rajpoot Deciphering the ∼18 TeV Photons from GRB 221009A The Astrophysical Journal Letters Gamma-ray bursts Particle astrophysics |
| title | Deciphering the ∼18 TeV Photons from GRB 221009A |
| title_full | Deciphering the ∼18 TeV Photons from GRB 221009A |
| title_fullStr | Deciphering the ∼18 TeV Photons from GRB 221009A |
| title_full_unstemmed | Deciphering the ∼18 TeV Photons from GRB 221009A |
| title_short | Deciphering the ∼18 TeV Photons from GRB 221009A |
| title_sort | deciphering the ∼18 tev photons from grb 221009a |
| topic | Gamma-ray bursts Particle astrophysics |
| url | https://doi.org/10.3847/2041-8213/acac2f |
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