Overview

• NASA’s Fermi telescope recorded three gamma-ray outbursts from the same spot on July 2, with the Einstein Probe revealing X-ray activity nearly a day earlier.
• The event, designated GRB 250702B, persisted for roughly a day and appears 100 to 1,000 times longer than typical gamma-ray bursts, with signs of repetition and possible periodicity.
• ESO’s VLT using the HAWK-I camera localized the source as extragalactic, a result later verified by the Hubble Space Telescope.
• The host appears to be a strange, two-part galaxy, and researchers say pinning down its redshift is essential to determine the true energy released.
• Scientists are weighing an unusually long-lived stellar collapse against a tidal disruption event that may involve an intermediate-mass black hole, with ongoing follow-up including JWST after the team’s report in The Astrophysical Journal Letters.