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Magnetar getting ready to launch an FRB

Stellar Science

Neutron Star "Glitches" Are Clue to Mysterious Radio Bursts

New observations of a neutron star in the Milky Way's center shed light on what makes mysterious fast radio bursts.

Fast radio burst illustration

Stellar Science

Radio Burst Breaks Distance Record, Challenges Theories

A highly energetic fast radio burst, which broke the distance record, provides a crucial test for theories of these events' origins.

Giant flare on a magnetar

Stellar Science

Fast Radio Burst Roundup

They’re powerful, they’re fast, and we aren’t sure about what causes them, but astronomers are closer than ever to understanding the source of mysterious fast radio bursts.

magnetar illustration: white sphere with magnetic dipole lines and flashes among the field lines

Stellar Science

Could Axions Help Fast Radio Bursts Escape a Magnetar’s Grasp?

New research proposes a way for fast radio bursts to escape the confines of a magnetized star and jet out into space — by getting help from theoretical particles called axions.

Radio waves from fast radio burst penetrate intergalactic plasma on their way to Earth in the Milky Way

Stellar Science

Mystery Bursts Give Astronomers a View into Galaxy Halos

Flashes of radio waves — whose exact sources are still a bit of a mystery — are helping astronomers learn about the hot gas that surrounds the Milky Way.

Fast radio burst art

Stellar Science

New Observations Add Fuel to Fast Radio Burst Origin Debate

A peculiar repeating fast radio burst seems to be coming from a dynamic environment in an otherwise uninteresting region, leaving researchers scratching their heads as to the burst’s origin.

FRB heartbeat

Stellar Science

Radio “Heartbeat” Teases Fast Radio Burst Origins

Scientists have observed pulses from a fast radio burst, suggesting the flash might have come from a neutron star.

Stellar Science

An Unusual Source Deepens Fast Radio Burst Mysteries

A new source of fast radio bursts raises questions about how much we really know about these mysterious flares.

FRB counterpart

Stellar Science

A Possible Optical Counterpart to a Fast Radio Burst?

What’s the mechanism behind millisecond-duration bursts of radio energy coming from outer space? A team searched for visible-light counterparts to constrain the origin of fast radio bursts — and found one.

Globular cluster outside M81

Stellar Science

Fast Radio Burst's Unlikely Home Puzzles Astronomers

Astronomers have found a fast radio burst — presumably a flash from a young stellar remnant — amongst the ancient stars of a globular cluster, challenging ideas about what produces these enigmatic flashes.

Artist's illustration of a magnetar

Stellar Science

Exploring a Magnetospheric Origin for Fast Radio Bursts

Astronomers are starting to close in on the origins of fast radio bursts — powerful, fleeting flashes of radio waves seen at extragalactic distances.

Magnetar

Stellar Science

China’s FAST Observatory Sees More Than 1,000 Radio Bursts from a Single Spot

The largest haul of fast radio burst observations ever recorded, all from a single fast radio burst, is helping astronomers understand what causes these fleeting cosmic phenomena

Astronomy & Observing News

New Observations Challenge Popular Radio Burst Model

Strange behavior caught by two radio observatories may send theorists back to the drawing board.

Giant flare on a magnetar

Stellar Science

Milky Way Magnetar Spits Gamma Rays on Schedule

A Milky Way magnetar surprises astronomers by burping up gamma rays right when their predictions anticipated.

CHIME

Stellar Science

Number of Known Mysterious Radio Flashes Nearly Quadruples

The CHIME telescope has released its first catalog with 492 unique sources of fast radio bursts, the brief flashes of radio waves that have been intriguing astronomers over the past decade.

Spiral galaxies host Fast Radio Bursts

Stellar Science

Fast Radio Bursts Tied to Spiral Arms

New Hubble observations have pinned five enigmatic radio bursts to the arms of spiral galaxies, narrowing down possible explanations.

Magnetar

Stellar Science

Magnetars Make Some — Maybe All — Mysterious Radio Flashes

In-depth analysis of a flash of radio waves coming from a Milky Way magnetar have convinced astronomers: Magnetars produce at least some fast radio bursts.

Magnetar

Stellar Science

Astronomers Discover a Newborn Magnetar and a New Cosmic Beat

This week, astronomers announce a newborn magnetar and a fast radio burst that's bursting to a beat.

Magnetar

Stellar Science

Milky Way Magnetar Makes Fast Radio Burst

Fast radio bursts are mysterious — and powerful — flashes of radio waves. Now, we've found one of these flashes coming from a magnetar in our own galaxy.

Host Galaxy of a Radio Flash

Stellar Science

New Mysterious Radio Flash Pinned Down; Hundreds More Being Discovered

Recent observations have pinpointed the location of a fifth fast radio burst, shedding light on the environs that create these powerful sources.