Topic
Collisions of two neutron stars that emit gravitational waves and electromagnetic signals such as short gamma-ray bursts and kilonovae.
Astronomers attribute EP250704a, a half-second gamma-ray burst followed by 10 minutes of X-rays, to two neutron stars colliding. The event gives them a test case for the hundreds of X-ray flashes Einstein Probe has logged since its 2024 launch, some of them still unexplained.
Reality
Einstein Probe recorded nearly ten minutes of soft X-rays after a short gamma-ray burst whose flash lasted under half a second. By the team's estimate the tail was too soft for gamma-ray instruments to register, so earlier missions would have logged only the flash.
Reality
UCL astronomers modeling lopsided supernova debris find that four peculiar stars once attributed to hypernovae are better explained without them. The verdict is a statistical preference across four stars, and it depends on how poorly supernova debris mixes, a question the authors say is still open.
Reality
Einstein Probe saw a likely neutron star merger shine in soft X-rays for nearly 10 minutes after a 0.4-second gamma-ray burst. Its team argues gamma-ray detectors alone may have missed this phase in earlier mergers, a case that so far rests on one event.
Reality
Einstein Probe recorded nearly ten minutes of X-ray light from a July 2025 neutron-star merger whose gamma-ray burst lasted about half a second. The team links the long glow to a newborn magnetar, a reading that so far rests on this single event.
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