A cosmic explosion that refused to follow the laws of physics
In short: Most gamma-ray bursts are over in seconds. But a recent discovery from 25 billion light years away lasted for hours, defying every known model of how black holes destroy stars. It is an outburst unlike anything seen in the last 50 years.
NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope along with a worldwide observatory network identified the phenomenon known as GRB 250702B. While typical gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) are brief, intense flashes caused by a massive star collapsing into a black hole—usually lasting less than a minute—this specific explosion persisted for at least seven hours. Some observations even suggest it lasted about a day, making it 100 to 1,000 times longer than most recorded bursts.
The anomaly was first flagged on July 2, 2025, by the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope, which detected three distinct bursts from the source over several hours. Retrospective data from the Einstein Probe revealed that the source had actually been active with X-ray activity almost a day before the primary gamma-ray emission began. This repeating behavior and extreme duration have left scientists scrambling to find a viable physical mechanism.
A theory suggests a companion star merged with a black hole possessing an 11-mile-wide event horizon and a mass roughly triple that of the Sun. However, because no known scenario completely explains the duration and repetition of GRB 250702B, researchers are still investigating whether this represents a brand-new way that black holes interact with their surroundings.
To locate the source, astronomers used the European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope to pinpoint the origin in a crowded region of the sky. This discovery highlights the limitations of current astrophysical models and underscores the vast, unpredictable energy scales present in the distant universe.
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Sources
- Summary by Intellect · source: Explosion from 25 Billion Light Years Away Was Really Bizarre
- Also: Webb telescope spots mysterious explosion that defies known physics | ScienceDaily
- Also: Mysterious gamma-ray explosion unlike any discovered before – College of Science
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