An unprecedented detection carried out by space observatories identified an energetic phenomenon that remained active for around 25 thousand seconds. The event, officially cataloged as GRB 250702B, occurred in mid-2025 and surpassed all previous marks recorded for gamma ray bursts, which usually last just a few minutes or fractions of a second. The scientific community classifies the discovery as a milestone in the study of cosmic transients.
Analysis of the data, captured by a global network of five specialized telescopes, revealed continuous emissions divided into three distinct phases, all originating from the same celestial coordinate. Essa temporal persistence is considered an anomaly in high-energy astrophysics, challenging current theoretical models that describe the behavior of conventional stellar explosions.
O monitoramento em tempo real permitiu que alertas fossem enviados rapidamente para instrumentos terrestres e espaciais, garantindo uma cobertura detalhada do espectro de radiação. Independent confirmation by multiple equipment eliminated the possibility of technical failures, validating the existence of a prolonged and extremely violent physical process occurring in deep space.
Details and characteristics of the phenomenon
Although the intensity of the radiation was extremely high, the relative brightness of the event was lower than that observed in classic long-lasting flares. The pulsating nature of the signal suggests a complex mechanism, differing radically from the rapid explosions typical of collapses of massive stellar cores or mergers of traditional compact objects.
The instruments made it possible to decompose the radiation spectrum, identifying temporal variations that helped to classify the event as a unique case. The main particularities observed by astronomers include:
- Total signal duration estimated at approximately 25 thousand seconds;
- Occurrence of three successive explosion peaks originating in the same region;
- Release of energy through powerful relativistic jets;
- Luminosity lower than the average of known large gamma ray bursts.
Helium star merger hypothesis
The most robust explanation to justify the signal’s longevity involves a catastrophic interaction in an exotic binary system. Pesquisadores indicate that the phenomenon was caused by a stellar-mass black hole orbiting a helium-rich companion star, gradually wearing away its outer layers before final collapse.
The critical moment occurs when the black hole dives into the interior of the star, voraciously consuming stellar material and generating the observed jet of energy. The absence of a hydrogen envelope in the victim star facilitates the propagation of this jet for a much longer period than normal, allowing the radiation to escape freely.
This transfer of angular momentum supports the matter accretion process, which directly explains the three phases of emission detected by the sensors. The model differs substantially from common supernova scenarios, where the presence of external hydrogen usually muffles or shortens the duration of energetic jets, limiting observation to a few minutes.
Differences to previous events
Historically, gamma ray bursts have been categorized as short or long, but they rarely exceed the time barrier established in recent decades. GRB 250702B not only broke this barrier, but also established a new duration threshold, placing itself in an extremely rare category of extended events that require new theoretical approaches.
Compared to the previous record, which was around 15,000 seconds, the new record demonstrates the existence of a subpopulation of cosmic explosions that is still poorly understood. The absence of detectable emissions in visible bands suggests that the event occurred at a high cosmological distance, probably billions of light years from Terra.
Impact on astronomical research
Confirmation of this event drives the development of new numerical simulations to test complex interactions in binary systems. The detailed study of GRB 250702B provides valuable clues about the evolution of massive stars and the behavior of black holes in dense environments, serving as a natural laboratory for extreme physics.
With the entry into operation of more sensitive telescopes and the use of artificial intelligence algorithms to scan the sky, similar detections are expected to become more frequent in the coming years. Isso will allow astronomers to build robust statistics on the frequency of these mergers and refine understanding of the death of stars in the universe.
