Scientists may have discovered a wild new type of cosmic explosion

A space explosion detected this summer burned for days on end, making it the longest and most unusual gamma-ray burst ever seen.

Gamma-ray bursts are the universe’s most powerful explosions. They usually flare for just seconds or minutes, triggered when massive stars collapse or when ultra-dense dead stars called neutron stars collide. But this particular event — known as GRB 250702B — defied all expectations.

Satellites, including NASA’s Fermi and Swift telescopes, along with instruments on other spacecraft, spotted the explosion on July 2. No single observatory could track the full event, so scientists stitched together data from multiple sources to capture the entire outburst.

Researchers think the long, record-breaking explosion may reveal a new way black holes destroy stars — somet