Is GRB the real threat, not the Nuclear war ?

Since I've wanted to write about this subject for a very long time, this article is particularly dear to my heart. I created a scenario in which we, the inhabitants of Earth, would experience a gamma-ray burst and wondered what would happen to mankind as a species as a result.

It is my delight to share with you this information, facts, and statistics regarding the malevolent aftermath of a GRB, its likelihood in real life, and the reasons why we should be more concerned about a prospective GRB than a nuclear war, in light of my strong interest in cosmology and astronomy. I bring you a what-if blog.

The solar system saw an unprecedented pulse of radiation on Sunday, October 9, 2022, which astronomers instantly called the BOAT (Brightest of all time) the brightest event ever. The source was a gamma-ray burst (GRB). This was a heading of NASA's article written on what was the brightest light we have ever observed in the entire universe, and it's not actually good news.

Since most space-based gamma-ray instruments were effectively blinded by the burst's brightness, they were unable to directly record the emission's actual intensity. From the Fermi data, American researchers were able to piece together this knowledge. They then compared the outcomes to those obtained by the Russian team working with Konus data and teams from China studying observations made using the GECAM-C detector on their SATech-01 satellite and equipment on their Insight-HXMT observatory. Together, they show that the explosion was 70 times brighter than anything previously observed.

        Credit: Nasa Goddard space flight centre

now what are these grb?

A gamma-ray burst (GRB) is the most potent kind of explosion in the cosmos and serves as the source of gamma-rays (GRB) a luminous flash associated with an extraordinarily energetic explosion. They are the most powerful explosions in the universe, with a single burst releasing as much energy in a few seconds as our sun will in its entire 10-billion-year lifetime.

GRBs were first detected in 1967 by military satellites that were designed to detect nuclear tests. The bursts were initially a mystery, but after decades of research, we now know that they are produced by the collapse of massive stars and the resulting supernovae.

Despite their distance, GRBs can be extremely dangerous. if one were to occur in our own galaxy. and mind the fact that there are about 100-400 billion stars in our galaxy, but one black hole jet may be directly pointed towards Earth, and at any given point it would be devastating if it ejected GRB our way. The burst would ionize the Earth’s atmosphere, causing widespread destruction and potentially killing millions of people.

This blog post will explore the dangers of gamma-ray bursts and why we should all be afraid of them.

This animation depicts a star experiencing spaghettification as it’s sucked in by a supermassive black hole during a ‘tidal disruption event’. In a new study, done with the help of ESO’s Very Large Telescope and ESO’s New Technology Telescope, a team of astronomers found that when a black hole devours a star, it can launch a powerful blast of material outward.

Credit: ESO/M. Kornmesser

TYPES OF GRB

GRBs come in two different types: long and short. Long GRBs last between two and several hundred seconds and are typically associated with the death of massive stars. Short GRBs, on the other hand, last less than two seconds and are generally believed to be associated with the merging of two neutron stars.

The exact physical mechanism behind GRBs is still not completely understood. However, scientists believe that intense radiation is produced when a star’s core collapses in on itself, producing a black hole or neutron star before exploding. This radiation is then beamed into space, where it can be detected by special instruments on Earth.

How OFTEN DOES GRB OCCUR?

Although there are millions of stars in the universe, gamma-ray bursts are incredibly rare events when compared to other natural phenomena, but that idealism can change as soon as we progress in physics and launch the most powerful space instruments ever created. Studies have found that, on average, these powerful emissions occur about once every 10,000 years in a typical galaxy. But we don't even understand the exact mechanism of its initiation, so hypothesizing its frequency is as accurate as counting sand grains on the entire earth. It's because, there are 500 billion stars in the Milky Way galaxy, and we have (2.5±1.5)×10^11 , that's around two hundred billion stars in just our local group, which consists of the Milky Way, Andromeda, and other small galaxies and globular clusters.

Credit: Local Group. (2023, April 22). In Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Local_Group

And this local group is just a part of 300 to 500 other groups like this that form the Laneakea supercluster with approx 100,000 galaxies. Now I'm not going to do the math here of multiplying an approximate number of stars by a galaxy by 100,000 because I just asked Chat GPT this and it gave me the answer. 100 trillion to 1 quadrillion, which is 10 to the power 15. Let that sink in, because there are about 10 million of those superclusters in this observable universe. So it boils down to a probability of more than 0.2 percent which seems low unless you compare it with the nuclear warhead detonation, which is 0.01 - 0.1 percent.

Literal Chills

And this is what's truly shocking: the earth might get obliterated in seconds without us even knowing about it. Now, these calculations were laid out by AI because I don't have the computing power to factor in all the possible scenarios that can lead up to any event described here, but they were fact-checked with the open-sourced data present on the internet. which is something to start off with.

Potential dangers

Gamma-ray bursts pose a grave and often underestimated danger to our planet and its inhabitants. As discussed before, if beamed directly on the earth, it's just full-on obliteration type stuff, but even if its propulsion (direction of movement) is off by millions of miles, because of their massive energy outputs, gamma-ray bursts can easily cause harmful mutations in cells and animals, which can result in physical deformities, increased cancer rates for humans, and mass extinctions of animals and plants around the world.

Aside from the direct health risks, gamma-ray bursts can also disrupt electrical and communication systems, like phones, computers, and televisions. The bursts, if strong enough, can produce strong atmospheric currents that can interfere with electronics. This can lead to Internet outages, telephone system damage, and potentially the permanent destruction of operating systems, causing huge financial losses to businesses around the world.

Therefore, the dangers posed by gamma-ray bursts are not to be underestimated, and all efforts should be made to ensure this powerful form of energy does not pass too close to our planet.

Credit: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center

Hot to PROTECT OURSElf

Though it may seem that gamma-ray bursts are out of our reach and can not be controlled, there are ways to protect ourselves from them. We can develop new technologies to detect gamma-ray bursts, analyze them, and take protective steps in response to their activity.

Space telescopes, ground-based detectors connected to networks (GDN), robotic observatories, and other tools can be used to monitor gamma-ray bursts. These tools allow us to detect gamma-ray bursts and track them, thus providing us with critical warning information.

Additionally, collaborative agreements and protocols can be established between different nations or regions to warn people of an incoming gamma-ray burst or implement protective measures to minimize damage.

These are all efforts that must be taken to ensure that gamma-ray bursts of high-energy electromagnetic radiation don’t cause any catastrophic damage to us.

TO WARP THINGS Up

As discussed, gamma-ray bursts are the most powerful explosions known to occur in the universe. Not only are these bursts extremely powerful and unpredictable, but they can also cause catastrophic damage to the Earth and its inhabitants. Therefore, it needs to be taken into account that gamma rays can occur and that the corresponding protective measures must be taken against them.

We can safeguard ourselves from this catastrophe by conducting further research and developing better detection technologies and warning systems.

By doing these things, we can be better informed and prepared, so that an incoming gamma ray burst no longer poses such a threat to us and we can live life in the universe without fear of the destructive power of gamma rays.

Check out the blog section for more informative and intuitive articles, and feel free to look through the sources for citations. Till then, remember to take deep breaths and spread love.

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REFERENCES

1)www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2023/nasa-missions-study-what-may-be-a-1-in-10000-year-gamma-ray-burst

2)www.phys.org/news/2015-01-gamma-ray-dangerous

3)www.cambridge.org/core/journals/international-journal-of-astrobiology/article/abs/gammaray-bursts-as-a-threat-to-life-on-earth/EED2E88320E43958BD6913C2F864C379

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