Astronomers spot brightest fast radio burst ever
Astronomers just caught the brightest fast radio burst (FRB) ever—called RBFLOAT—recently. This ultra-quick flash lasted only milliseconds but packed as much energy as the Sun gives off in four days.
The signal came from galaxy NGC 4141, about 130 million light-years away in Ursa Major.
Likely came from a magnetar
Only a minority of FRBs repeat, but RBFLOAT was a one-time event—no repeats showed up in six years of CHIME data.
Using CHIME's Outrigger array, scientists traced it to a small spot on the galaxy's outer arm, right next to a star-forming region.
They think it likely came from a magnetar—a super-magnetic neutron star known for dramatic flares.
New tech helps researchers
Catching bursts like RBFLOAT wouldn't be possible without big radio arrays like CHIME, since these flashes are so brief and faint.
With new tech helping pinpoint more FRBs every year, researchers hope to finally figure out where these mysterious signals come from and what makes them tick.