Astronomers have made significant breakthrough in detecting one of the brightest fast radio bursts (FRBs) ever recorded, RBFLOAT. The signal arrived in March 2025 and was detected by the CHIME radio telescope in Canada. Researchers located its origin with unprecedented precision, pinpointing it to a spiral galaxy 130 million light-years away.
Using a new method of analysis, the team discovered that RBFLOAT released as much energy as the sun produces in four days, lasting just milliseconds. The signal was detected by a subnetwork of smaller stations called Outriggers and optical and X-ray telescopes provided complementary data.
While scientists still don’t know what causes FRBs, they have some ideas. RBFLOAT is likely to be an extreme cosmic event, such as a neutron star merger or magnetar. Data suggests it is located in a star-forming region with massive stars, placing it in a galactic arm where new stars are being born.
The research marks a significant milestone for FRB detection and triangulation. The team expects to achieve around 200 accurate RBF detections per year using the signals captured by CHIME. This achievement demonstrates that scientists can now routinely tie FRBs to specific galaxies, even down to neighborhoods within those galaxies.
Source: https://www.wired.com/story/scientists-identified-origin-extraordinarily-powerful-outer-space-radio-wave-frb-chime