Astronomers have detected a gamma ray burst that repeated three times in a day, defying all known explanations.
Astronomers have reported the discovery of a gamma ray burst that repeated multiple times within a single day, a phenomenon never before observed in decades of research.
Gamma ray bursts, or GRBs, are among the universe’s most powerful explosions, usually marking the catastrophic death of a star. Yet this new event, designated GRB 250702B, produced three distinct bursts over July 2, detected by NASA’s Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope and the Einstein Probe.
“This event is unlike any other seen in 50 years of GRB observations,” said Antonio Martin-Carrillo of University College Dublin. “GRBs are catastrophic events, so they are expected to go off just once.”
The blasts appear to have originated billions of light years away, beyond the Milky Way, making the phenomenon even more extraordinary.
Theories range from an unusual collapsing star to a star being devoured by a rare intermediate-mass black hole. “If this is a massive star, it is a collapse unlike anything we have ever witnessed,” added co-author Andrew Levan.