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.
