A team of international scientists, including those from Northwestern University, has successfully localized a record-breaking fast radio burst (FRB) and pinpointed its location with unprecedented precision. The FRB, named RBFLOAT, was detected by the Canadian Hydrogen Intensity Mapping Experiment (CHIME) and its Outrigger array in British Columbia, West Virginia, and California.
RBFLOAT is one of the brightest FRBs ever recorded, releasing more energy in a few milliseconds than our sun emits in four days. Scientists discovered the burst in March 2025 and used the Outrigger array to locate it within just 42 light-years of accuracy.
This achievement marks a significant milestone for FRB research, as it demonstrates the capability of the CHIME/FRB collaboration to detect and localize these rare events with high precision. The study’s findings provide valuable insights into the environment surrounding RBFLOAT, including its location within a single spiral arm of a galaxy 130 million light-years away.
The researchers believe that some FRBs may originate from magnetars, ultra-magnetized neutron stars born from the deaths of massive stars. Their analysis suggests that RBFLOAT occurred near but not inside a star-forming region, supporting this hypothesis.
The successful localization of RBFLOAT sets the stage for future discoveries in FRB research. With the CHIME Outriggers now fully operational, scientists expect to pin down hundreds more FRBs each year, bringing them closer to solving the mystery of their origins.
This breakthrough highlights the power of collaboration and cutting-edge technology in advancing our understanding of the universe. By leveraging the capabilities of CHIME and its Outrigger array, researchers can explore new frontiers in astrophysics and shed light on some of the most enigmatic phenomena in the cosmos.
Source: https://phys.org/news/2025-08-brightest-fast-radio.html