The Brightest of All Time (BOAT) cosmic explosion, which occurred on October 22, 2022, has been studied by an international team of astrophysicists. The team has now published its findings in the journal Science Advances. The event was caused by the collapse of a highly massive star and the subsequent birth of a black hole. The gamma-ray burst (GRB) was angled directly at Earth and dragged along an unusually large amount of stellar material in its wake, which made it appear brighter than other GRBs. The researchers found that the GRB had a unique structure, with observations gradually revealing a narrow jet embedded within a wider gas outflow. The researchers believe that the amount of mixing between the stellar material and the jet made the difference in this case. The study’s lead author, Dr Brendan O’Connor, said that the GRB was a once-in-a-thousand-year opportunity to address some of the most fundamental questions regarding these explosions, from the formation of black holes to tests of dark matter models.
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