GRB 221009A: the B.O.A.T Burst that Shines in Gamma Rays

TL;DR

This paper provides a comprehensive analysis of the brightest gamma-ray burst ever detected, GRB 221009A, revealing its emission characteristics, challenges to existing models, and the detection of an exceptionally high-energy photon.

Contribution

It offers the first detailed LAT data analysis of GRB 221009A, highlighting its unique brightness, complex emission components, and the detection of a 400 GeV photon, challenging existing emission models.

Findings

GRB 221009A was the brightest GRB detected by LAT.

High-energy emission likely involves synchrotron self-Compton processes.

Detection of a 400 GeV photon challenges current emission models.

Abstract

We present a complete analysis of Fermi Large Area Telescope (LAT) data of GRB 221009A, the brightest Gamma-Ray Burst (GRB) ever detected. The burst emission above 30 MeV detected by the LAT preceded by 1 s the low-energy (< 10 MeV) pulse that triggered the Fermi Gamma-Ray Burst Monitor (GBM), as has been observed in other GRBs. The prompt phase of GRB 221009A lasted a few hundred seconds. It was so bright that we identify a Bad Time Interval (BTI) of 64 seconds caused by the extremely high flux of hard X-rays and soft gamma rays, during which the event reconstruction efficiency was poor and the dead time fraction quite high. The late-time emission decayed as a power law, but the extrapolation of the late-time emission during the first 450 seconds suggests that the afterglow started during the prompt emission. We also found that high-energy events observed by the LAT are incompatible with synchrotron origin, and, during the prompt emission, are more likely related to an extra component identified as synchrotron self-Compton (SSC). A remarkable 400 GeV photon, detected by the LAT 33 ks after the GBM trigger and directionally consistent with the location of GRB 221009A, is hard to explain as a product of SSC or TeV electromagnetic cascades, and the process responsible for its origin is uncertain. Because of its proximity and energetic nature, GRB 221009A is an extremely rare event.