The 365 Days of Astronomy NOIRLab - An Extra Long Gamma Ray Burst
Dec 13, 2025
Astronomers discuss the longest gamma-ray burst ever recorded, lasting over seven hours. They explore its origins, including massive stars collapsing and the intriguing possibility of a helium-star merger. Follow-up observations utilized an array of powerful telescopes like Hubble and JWST, revealing significant challenges due to dust obscuration. The extraordinary event is linked to advanced modeling showcasing a relativistic jet moving at over 99% the speed of light. Exciting insights about tidal disruption events and black hole mergers are also covered.
AI Snips
Chapters
Transcript
Episode notes
What Gamma-Ray Bursts Are
- Gamma-ray bursts are flashes of extremely high-energy light spanning from X-rays up to gamma rays.
- Long GRBs usually come from massive stars collapsing and launching relativistic jets that emit across the electromagnetic spectrum.
How GRB 250702b Was Found
- The Fermi satellite detected several close bursts and triggered follow-up worldwide.
- Ground and space telescopes then confirmed this event lasted far longer than any previously observed GRB.
A Global Follow-Up Campaign
- Observatories from Blanco to Hubble and Gemini contributed optical/IR follow-up.
- Multiwavelength coverage, including X-ray and radio, was crucial to characterize the unusually long event.