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Day-Long, Repeating Gamma-Ray Burst From Distant Galaxy Challenges Standard Models

The peer-reviewed finding has prompted intensive follow-up to determine its distance, energetics, origin.

Overview

  • GRB 250702B produced multiple high-energy flares over roughly 24 hours, a duration 100 to 1,000 times longer than typical gamma-ray bursts.
  • NASA’s Fermi telescope recorded three bursts on July 2, with retrospective checks linking earlier activity seen nearly a day before by the Einstein Probe.
  • ESO’s Very Large Telescope pinpointed the fading source and Hubble confirmed an extragalactic host galaxy, likely a few billion light-years away, though the exact distance remains uncertain.
  • The team reports apparent periodicity and repetition not previously seen in GRBs, raising questions about how such an engine could operate.
  • Authors outline competing scenarios that include an unusual, long-lived stellar collapse or a tidal disruption involving a rare intermediate-mass black hole, with VLT/X-shooter and JWST data now being gathered to test these models.