GRB 221009A was an extraordinarily bright and very energetic gamma-ray burst (GRB) jointly discovered by the Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory and the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope on October 9, 2022. The gamma-ray burst was ten minutes long,[1] but was detectable for more than ten hours following initial detection.[2][3] Despite being around 2.4 billion light-years away, it was powerful enough to affect Earth's atmosphere, having the strongest effect ever recorded by a gamma-ray burst on the planet.[4][5][6][7][8] The peak luminosity of GRB 221009A was measured by Konus-Wind to be ~ 2.1 × 1047 W and by Fermi Gamma-ray Burst Monitor to be ~ 1.0 × 1047 W over its 1.024s interval.[9] A burst as energetic and as close to Earth as 221009A is thought to be a once-in-10,000-year event.[10][9] It was the brightest and most energetic gamma-ray burst ever recorded, with some dubbing it the BOAT, or Brightest Of All Time.[9][11][12][13]
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