We used to think long cosmic explosions only came from dying stars, but some are actually from black holes smashing together.
March 17, 2026
Original Paper
The hidden population of long gamma-ray bursts from compact object mergers
arXiv · 2603.15531
The Takeaway
Gamma-ray bursts are historically split into two strict camps: short ones from collisions and long ones from star deaths. This study identifies a hidden population of long-duration bursts that break this rule, proving that black hole and neutron star mergers can 'scream' much longer than we previously thought possible.
From the abstract
Context. The prompt-emission time profiles of GRB 230307A and other long-duration compact object merger (COM) candidates exhibit a unique set of temporal properties, characterised by a deterministic evolution of waiting times and pulse widths.Aims. We searched the Fermi/GBM catalogue for other unidentified long COM candidates exhibiting temporal properties similar to those observed in GRB 230307A.Methods. We examined the temporal and spectral prompt-emission properties of GRBs featuring at least