A Significant Sudden Ionospheric Disturbance associated with Gamma-Ray Burst GRB 221009A [HEAP]

http://arxiv.org/abs/2210.15284


We report the detection of a significant ionospheric disturbance in the D-region of Earth’s ionosphere which was associated with the massive gamma-ray burst GRB 221009A that occurred on October 9 2022. We identified the disturbance over northern Europe – a result of the increased ionisation by X- and gamma-ray emission from the GRB – using very low frequency (VLF) radio waves as a probe of the D-region. These observations demonstrate that an extra-galactic GRB can have a significant impact on the terrestrial ionosphere and illustrates that the Earth’s ionosphere can be used as a giant X- and gamma-ray detector. Indeed, these observations may provide insights into the impacts of GRBs on the ionospheres of planets in our solar system and beyond.

Read this paper on arXiv…

L. Hayes and P. Gallagher
Fri, 28 Oct 22
51/56

Comments: 3 pages, 1 figure