Scientists Pinpoint Brightest Fast Radio Burst with Precision

An international team of scientists has discovered one of the brightest fast radio bursts (FRBs) ever recorded, pinpointing its location with exceptional accuracy. This significant achievement was made possible through the use of the Canadian Hydrogen Intensity Mapping Experiment (CHIME), a state-of-the-art radio telescope array.

The newly identified burst, dubbed RBFLOAT for “radio-brightest flash of all time,” released energy equivalent to what the sun emits over four days within just a few milliseconds. Detected in March 2025, this FRB was traced to a spiral arm of a galaxy located approximately 130 million light-years from Earth, with a remarkable accuracy of just 42 light-years.

Technological Advancements in Radio Astronomy

The CHIME telescope, primarily designed to map hydrogen across the observable universe, operates without moving parts, allowing it to maintain a high mapping speed. Its newly completed “Outrigger” array combines observations from sites in British Columbia, West Virginia, and California, enhancing its capability to triangulate the exact positions of FRBs.

“Only a couple of months after the full Outrigger array went online, we discovered an extremely bright FRB in a galaxy in our own cosmic neighborhood,” stated Wen-fai Fong, a senior author on the study. The precise location of RBFLOAT will enable further exploration of its environment, contributing to our understanding of these mysterious cosmic phenomena.

FRBs are known for their brief yet powerful bursts, generating more energy than the sun produces in an entire year. While many go undetected, RBFLOAT stood out as a rare event, offering scientists a valuable opportunity for research.

Unraveling Cosmic Mysteries

The collaborative team, which includes researchers from McGill University, employed follow-up observations from the 6.5-meter MMT telescope in Arizona and the Keck Cosmic Web Imager on the 10-meter Keck II Telescope in Hawai‘i. These investigations revealed that RBFLOAT occurred along a spiral arm of its host galaxy, an area rich with star-forming regions.

This discovery aligns with a leading hypothesis regarding the origins of FRBs, suggesting that some may be produced by magnetars—ultra-magnetized neutron stars formed from the collapse of massive stars. The presence of young magnetars in star-forming regions supports this theory, as their energetic nature could account for the rapid and intense bursts observed.

“This result marks a turning point,” commented Amanda Cook, a postdoctoral researcher at McGill University. “Instead of just detecting these mysterious flashes, we can now see exactly where they are coming from. It opens the door for discovering whether they are caused by dying stars, exotic magnetic objects, or something we haven’t even thought of yet.”

The findings from this research are set to be published in The Astrophysical Journal Letters, marking a significant advancement in the field of astrophysics. As scientists continue to investigate these fleeting bursts, the potential for unraveling the mysteries of the universe grows ever more promising.