Record Gamma-Ray Burst: 7 Hours of Invisible Light ⚡ экспресс
The discovery of the longest gamma-ray burst, GRB 250702B, with a duration of about 25,000 seconds is reported. Observations from four instruments of the Interplanetary Network and the MAXI monitor show that the burst has a hard spectrum, sub-second variability, and high total energy, characteristic of ultra-relativistic jets from a rapidly rotating stellar-mass central engine. Such properties and extreme duration are incompatible with all confirmed progenitor types and almost all existing models. A natural explanation is provided by the helium star merger model: a black hole falls into a stripped-envelope star, devouring it and triggering an explosion from within. In this paradigm, GRB 250702B confirms that helium stars expand, and that some ultra-long gamma-ray bursts evolve similarly to collapsars, sources of stellar-mass gravitational waves, and possibly rare types of supernovae.
A cosmic searchlight blazed for almost 7 hours—usually these flashes die out in seconds. Astronomers recorded the record-breaking gamma-ray burst GRB 250702B: its beam, made of the most energetic radiation, flickered and carried colossal energy. The source was a superheated jet, accelerated to nearly the speed of light—as if the searchlight were powered by a titanic accelerator. But old models couldn't explain such a long runtime. The solution came from a 'helium merger' scenario: a black hole plunged into a star almost entirely composed of helium and depleted of hydrogen. Once inside, the hole spun up the star and started devouring it from within, blasting out energy—the searchlight switched on at full blast. The star perished not in an ordinary stellar explosion (supernova), but with monstrous gamma radiation, simultaneously creating gravitational waves—ripples in space itself. The discovery links ultra-long bursts with the mightiest explosions of massive stars and shows that helium stars can swell before death. An unexpected twist: a black hole the size of a city powered a searchlight that outshone an entire galaxy.
🎯 The burst’s energy was so enormous that for those 7 hours, it outshone all the stars in its galaxy combined.