An international team of researchers, including astrophysicists from Northwestern University, has managed to identify one of the brightest fast radio bursts (FRBs) ever observed – and for the first time pinpoint its location with unprecedented precision.
An international team of researchers, including astrophysicists from Northwestern University, has managed to identify one of the brightest fast radio bursts (FRBs) ever observed – and for the first time pinpoint its location with unprecedented precision.
The burst, which lasted only a fraction of a second, was dubbed RBFLOAT, short for radio-brightest flash of all time, and also a nod to the drink “Root Beer Float.” It was discovered in March 2025 using the Canadian CHIME telescope array, along with its new Outrigger sub-array, which allowed scientists to combine observations from British Columbia, West Virginia and California, and locate the source of the burst to within 42 light-years within a spiral arm of a galaxy just 130 million light-years away.
Using the Outrigger array, the researchers were able to locate the source of the burst in the Ursa Major constellation, in the outer region of a spiral-armed galaxy. Follow-up observations with the MMT telescope in Arizona and the Keck telescope in Hawaii revealed that the event occurred near, but not directly within, a star-forming region. This finding reinforces the hypothesis that some FRBs originate from magnetars—neutron stars with extremely powerful magnetic fields that form from the collapse of massive stars.
A turning point in the study ofFRBs
The discovery was published inThe Astrophysical Journal Letters (August 21, 2025) and marks the first use of the full Outrigger array for precise detection of an FRB.
Dr. Wen-Pei Fong of Northwestern, one of the senior researchers, noted that "This is an extraordinary achievement: shortly after the array went live, we were able to detect an extremely bright FRB in a relatively nearby galaxy – a promising sign for the future."
Dr. Amanda Cook of McGill University added that this is "a real turning point: instead of just detecting the flashes, we can now know exactly where they are coming from – and see if they are dying stars, magnetars or even something we haven't thought of yet."
Emitting an amount of energy equivalent to about four Days of sunshine – in milliseconds
The FRB, also known as FRB20250316A, released in a matter of milliseconds the amount of energy equivalent to four days of the entire sun's emission. Its intensity was so high that the processing system initially identified it as local radio interference (such as from a cell phone or an airplane).
Unlike many repeating FRBs, RBFLOAT occurred only once – and no further flashes were emitted from it even after hundreds of hours of observation. It is the first non-repeating FRB to be detected with such precision.
Dr. Sunil Simha from Northwestern emphasized that for the first time, it was also possible to estimate the depth of the FRB source's embedment in the gas around it - and it was found to be relatively shallow.
A new era in the study of radio bursts
CHIME's Outrigger array is expected to detect and locate hundreds of FRBs each year—more than anything reported so far in eight years of research. The ability to locate them with such precision will allow, for the first time, a systematic study of their environment, their host galaxies, and the physical conditions under which the bursts are generated, the researchers say.
"We are entering a new era in the study of FRBs," said Dr. Tarna Eftekhari, a co-investigator at Northwestern. "With hundreds of events scheduled to be precisely mapped in the coming years, we will finally be able to understand the wide variety of their sources – and RBFLOAT is just the beginning."
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It adds nothing to humanity. It does add to people. Money. Lots of money. Lots of money that goes into the pockets of the owners of research labs and scientists who masturbate on powerful telescopes.
Interesting thank you
Lamola: It adds more knowledge to science. More understanding about the behavior of matter in the universe.
So what,,,, what does this add to science?!