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Gamma Ray Burst

All articles tagged with #gamma ray burst

Seven-Hour Gamma-Ray Burst Captured by Webb Defies Known Physics
science11 days ago

Seven-Hour Gamma-Ray Burst Captured by Webb Defies Known Physics

Using the James Webb Space Telescope and a global network of observatories, scientists detected GRB 250702B, a gamma-ray burst that lasted about seven hours—the longest on record and far longer than typical bursts. The event, occurring in a dusty galaxy about 8 billion light-years away, could arise from an extreme gamma-ray burst, a tidal disruption event, or a black-hole–star merger, but a definitive explanation remains elusive. The multi-wavelength observations highlight extreme physics in stellar death and black-hole interactions and offer a rare window into such phenomena.

Cosmic echo uncovers a billion-sun gamma-ray burst
space21 days ago

Cosmic echo uncovers a billion-sun gamma-ray burst

Astronomers spotted the fading radio afterglow of a gamma-ray burst that Earth never saw because its jet was not pointed toward us. Using the Australian SKA Pathfinder (ASKAP) radio telescope, they traced ASKAP J005512-255834 to a distant, star-forming galaxy and identified it as the most convincing orphan-afterglow candidate yet, offering a template for finding similar high-energy explosions when the initial blast is missed.

Black Hole Merger Detected With Gamma-Ray Burst, Redefining Multi-Messenger Astronomy
science25 days ago

Black Hole Merger Detected With Gamma-Ray Burst, Redefining Multi-Messenger Astronomy

An international team reports a rare link between a binary black hole merger (GW event S241125n, about 4.2 billion light-years away) and a short gamma-ray burst with an X-ray afterglow, suggesting such mergers can emit detectable light under certain conditions and signaling a new era for combining gravitational waves with electromagnetic observations.

Seven-Hour GRB Hints at a Wandering IMBH Feeding on a Star
space27 days ago

Seven-Hour GRB Hints at a Wandering IMBH Feeding on a Star

GRB 250702B is the longest gamma-ray burst on record, lasting seven hours with three separate bursts in a day. Researchers propose it may have been produced when a Sun-like star was tidally disrupted by an intermediate-mass black hole, creating a relativistic jet; the star could have been shredded in multiple passes, and the event's location away from the galaxy's core supports the IMBH scenario, though competing models remain and evidence is contested.

Tiny Galaxy Hosts Rare Neutron-Star Collision in a Galactic Gas Stream
space1 month ago

Tiny Galaxy Hosts Rare Neutron-Star Collision in a Galactic Gas Stream

Astronomers using Chandra, Fermi, Swift and Hubble have pinpointed a neutron-star merger inside a tiny, faint galaxy embedded in a 600,000-light-year gas stream, likely created by a past galaxy collision. The event, GRB 230906A from 2023-09-06, helps explain gamma-ray bursts without obvious host galaxies and how heavy elements like gold and platinum can form and spread into galaxy outskirts.

Longest Gamma-Ray Burst Rewrites Rules on Cosmic Explosions
space2 months ago

Longest Gamma-Ray Burst Rewrites Rules on Cosmic Explosions

Astronomers detected GRB 250702B, a gamma-ray burst lasting about 25,000 seconds (roughly seven hours)—the longest on record—observed by multiple space-based telescopes since mid-2025; its sustained, evolving profile challenges standard GRB classifications and may point to a helium-star merger with a stellar-mass black hole, while no redshift or host galaxy has been identified yet. The finding highlights potential detection biases against long, lower-brightness bursts and has spurred plans to revise criteria for future missions like NASA/ESA’s COSI and to re-examine archival data for overlooked events.

Distant Gamma-Ray Burst at Redshift 7.3 Rewrites Early-Universe Star Deaths
space2 months ago

Distant Gamma-Ray Burst at Redshift 7.3 Rewrites Early-Universe Star Deaths

A ten-second, ultra-distant gamma-ray burst (GRB 250314A) at z=7.3 (~13.1 billion years old) sparked a rapid, global follow-up, with JWST resolving its explosion as a supernova similar to modern Type II events. The findings imply massive stars were dying and enriching their surroundings within the universe’s first billion years, challenging Population III star death models and suggesting comparatively mature stellar processes occurred far earlier than previously thought.

Astronomers Encounter Unexplained Deep-Space Gamma-Ray Bursts and Signals
science3 months ago

Astronomers Encounter Unexplained Deep-Space Gamma-Ray Bursts and Signals

Scientists detected a powerful gamma-ray burst from a supernova that exploded when the universe was only 730 million years old, making it the most distant such event ever observed. The discovery, confirmed by multiple telescopes including JWST, challenges previous assumptions about early star formation, showing that even in the universe's infancy, stars could undergo processes similar to those seen today.

Astronomers Mystified by Unprecedented Seven-Hour Gamma-Ray Burst
science3 months ago

Astronomers Mystified by Unprecedented Seven-Hour Gamma-Ray Burst

A record-breaking gamma-ray burst lasting nearly seven hours was observed, challenging existing models of such cosmic explosions. The event, originating from a dusty galaxy billions of light-years away, involved a high-speed jet of material and may have resulted from various extreme astrophysical processes. This unprecedented observation offers a unique opportunity to study extreme physics in the universe.

Unique Long-Lived Gamma-Ray Burst Challenges Existing Theories
science5 months ago

Unique Long-Lived Gamma-Ray Burst Challenges Existing Theories

Astronomers observed GRB 250702B, a gamma-ray burst with an unprecedented duration of nearly a day and possible repetition, originating from a large, dusty galaxy over five billion light-years away. Its unusual characteristics suggest it may result from an exotic event such as a massive star collapse, a tidal disruption event, or a black hole-star merger, potentially indicating a new type of cosmic explosion.