On 2 July 2025 NASA's Fermi telescope recorded GRB 250702B, a repeating gamma‑ray burst that persisted for over seven hours and produced multiple distinct flares across a day — nearly double previous records. A new MNRAS paper argues the source is a star tidally disrupted by an intermediate‑mass black hole.
Discovered |
Briefing
A >7‑hour, repeating gamma‑ray event exceeds the known duration scale for GRBs; if the tidal‑disruption/IMBH interpretation is confirmed it establishes a new class of high‑energy transients and will change trigger criteria and follow‑up priorities for observatories.
The proposed IMBH origin provides an observational pathway to find and characterize intermediate‑mass black holes, linking transient high‑energy signals to broader questions about black‑hole seeds and growth seen in recent imaging and JWST studies (see context and context).
This event contrasts with merger‑driven GRBs and kilonovae (for example, GRB 230906A); recognizing multiple progenitor channels affects multiwavelength and multi‑messenger follow‑up strategy and resource allocation for future transient searches.
Reported By
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The Seven-Hour Mass Explosion That Broke the Rules of the Universe • zmescience.com
Universe Today
• Mark Thompson
Cosmic surprise: Black hole merger may have triggered gamma-ray burst • interestingengineering.com