Earth is Constantly receiving space signals that contain essential information about extremely energetic phenomena. For the most peculiar are miniature impulses of extremely energetic radio waves, called swift radio services (FRB). Astronomers compare them with a powerful lighthouse that shines in a millisecond in the middle of a rugged, distant sea. Detection of one of these signals in itself is an achievement, but identifying its origin and understanding of the nature of its source remains one of the great scientific challenges.
That is why the last research conducted by Northwestern University in the United States drew the attention of the astronomical community. The team not only detected one of the most talented FrBs ever registered, but also traced their origin with unprecedented precision.
The pulse, identified as RBFloat, arrived in March 2025, lasted only a few milliseconds and spent as much energy as the sun produces within four days. Thanks to the recent analysis method, scientists located their origin in the shoulder of a spiral galaxy located 130 million airy years, towards the constellation Ursa Major. The research was published in Astrophysical letters of the journal.
. CHIME Telescope radio in Canada, one of the leading FRB observatories in the world and subtract smaller stations called Outriggers detected an anomal explosion. Chime characterized the signal, while the outriggers broke it into a narrow area of space. Optical and X -ray telescopes then provided complementary data. The team reached the precision of 13 Parsecs, which corresponds to 42 airy years, as part of the Galaxy NGC 4141.
Astronomers previously indicated other FRB, but in these cases the signals were repeated, which facilitated the analysis. “Rbfloat was the first non -repetitive source located in such precision,” said Sunil Simha, co -author of the study, in a university statement. “They are much more difficult to locate. Therefore, even RBFLLOAT detection is proof of the concept that Chime is really able to detect such events and build a statistically interesting FrB sample.”
What caused RBFloat?
Scientists are still not sure what RBF causes, but they have some ideas. Due to the enormous energy that releases and the conciseness of this phenomenon, it is likely that they come from extreme space events, such as the mergers of neutron stars, magnetars or pulsars.
In the case of RBFloat, the data indicate that they are in the region forming a star with really massive stars. The triangulation places a signal in the galactic shoulder, in which recent stars are also born. This suggests that it can be a magnetar, a subclass of a neutron star with a magnetic field billions of times stronger than the sublocation of the earth.
Experience with RBFloat will allow the team to apply the same triangulation technique to future signals. The authors estimate that they could achieve about 200 precise RBF detecting per year thanks to only capturing Chime Signals.
“For years, we knew that FRB appeared all over the sky, but the attachment was carefully slow. Now we can routinely connect them with specific galaxies, even with districts in these galaxies,” said Yuxin Dong, another member of the band.
This story originally appeared Wired in Spanish and was translated from Spanish.