Astronomers have detected the brightest fast radio burst yet coming from a nearby galaxy, offering new insights into this mysterious cosmic phenomenon. The burst, nicknamed “RBFLOAT,” was observed on March 16 and has been pinpointed to a region of about 45 light-years across in the galaxy NGC 4141, approximately 130 million light-years away.
Researchers used the Canadian Hydrogen Intensity Mapping Experiment (CHIME) telescope and its Outriggers array, which consists of smaller telescopes located in British Columbia, West Virginia, and California. The team was able to detect the burst with enhanced precision, pinpointing its source location.
The RBFLOAT released as much energy as the sun produced in four days but occurred within a millisecond. The observations shed light on the theory that magnetars, highly magnetized remnants of dead stars, could be the origin of fast radio bursts. A study published in The Astrophysical Journal Letters also found evidence for an object named NIR-1, which could be a massive star or red giant, possibly related to the burst.
The new findings provide insight into the question of whether all fast radio bursts repeat and may open up possibilities for cataclysmic theories. The CHIME telescope will continue monitoring the sky to detect additional fast radio bursts, including non-repeating ones like RBFLOAT. By building a database of their origins, researchers hope to uncover what causes these enigmatic signals.
Source: https://edition.cnn.com/2025/08/26/science/brightest-fast-radio-burst