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In radio astronomy, a fast radio burst (FRB) is a transient radio wave of duration ranging from a fraction of a millisecond, for an ultra-fast radio burst, to 3 seconds, caused by a high-energy astrophysical process that is not yet understood.

Most FRBs are extragalactic, but the first Milky Way FRB was detected by the CHIME radio telescope in April 2020. In 2020, astronomers reported narrowing down a source of fast radio bursts, which may now plausibly include "compact-object mergers and magnetars arising from normal core collapse supernovae". The first host galaxy identified for a non-repeating burst, FRB 180924, was identified in 2019 and is a much larger and more ordinary galaxy, nearly the size of the Milky Way. In August 2019, astronomers reported the detection of eight more repeating FRB signals. In January 2020, astronomers reported the precise location of a second repeating burst, FRB 180916. One FRB seems to have been in the same location as a known gamma-ray burst. On 28 April 2020, a pair of millisecond-timescale bursts (FRB 200428) consistent with observed fast radio bursts, with a fluence of >1.5 million Jy ms, was detected from the same area of sky as the magnetar SGR 1935+2154. Although it was thousands of times less intrinsically bright than previously observed fast radio bursts, its comparative proximity (within our galaxy) rendered it the most powerful fast radio burst yet observed, reaching a peak flux of either a few thousand or several hundred thousand janskys, comparable to the brightness of the radio sources Cassiopeia A and Cygnus A at the same frequencies.

The first fast radio burst to be described, the Lorimer Burst FRB 010724, was found in 2007 in archived data recorded by the Parkes Observatory on 24 July 2001. On 19 January 2015, astronomers at Australia's national science agency (CSIRO) reported that a fast radio burst had been observed for the first time live, by the Parkes Observatory.

An observation in 2012 of a fast radio burst (FRB 121102) in the direction of Auriga in the northern hemisphere using the Arecibo radio telescope confirmed the extragalactic origin of fast radio pulses by an effect known as plasma dispersion.

In August 2019, the CHIME Fast Radio Burst Collaboration reported the detection of eight more repeating FRB signals.

On 29 December 2019, Australian astronomers from the Molonglo Observatory Synthesis Telescope (MOST), using the UTMOST fast radio burst equipment, reported the detection of FRB 191223 in the Octans constellation (RA = 20:34:14.14, DEC = -75:08:54.19).

In February & March 2022, astronomers reported that a globular cluster of M81, a grand design spiral galaxy about 12 million light-years away, may be the source of FRB 20200120E, a repeating fast radio burst.

On 6 December 2022, detection of a possible magnetar gamma-ray burst at or near the same time and location as a fast radio burst was reported.

On 8 February 2024, related observations of FRB 20240114A were reported by FAST (38 bursts from 28 January to 4 February) and the Northern Cross Radio Telescope (1 burst on 1 February). On 5 March 2024, a "burst storm" was reported from FRB 20240114A by the FAST radio telescope. On 21 March 2024, the Northern Cross Radio Telescope in Italy reported a bright radio burst of FRB 20240114A, at updated coordinates of R.A.: 21:27:39.84, Dec: +04:19:46.34 (J2000), on 17 March 2024. Astronomers, on 15 May 2024, reported multiple burst detections of FRB 20240114A up to 6 GHz using the Effelsberg 100-m Radio Telescope.

Announcement of five bursts from FRB 20240216A, a new repeating fast radio burst source, detected by Australian SKA Pathfinder (ASKAP) at position (J2000) of RA: 10:12:19.9 DEC: +14:02:26, was reported on 22 February 2024.

"A repeating fast radio burst associated with a persistent radio source".

Quick Facts

• An observation in 2012 of a fast radio burst (FRB 121102) in the direction of Auriga in the northern hemisphere using the Arecibo radio telescope confirmed the extragalactic origin of fast radio pulses by an effect known as plasma dispersion.
• "A repeating fast radio burst associated with a persistent radio source".
• Most FRBs are extragalactic, but the first Milky Way FRB was detected by the CHIME radio telescope in April 2020.
• On 8 February 2024, related observations of FRB 20240114A were reported by FAST (38 bursts from 28 January to 4 February) and the Northern Cross Radio Telescope (1 burst on 1 February).
• On 6 December 2022, detection of a possible magnetar gamma-ray burst at or near the same time and location as a fast radio burst was reported.

Source material: Wikipedia - "Fast radio burst". Adapted and summarized for DiscoverScroll. Original contributors are credited through the linked Wikipedia article. Read original on Wikipedia. CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes were made from the original.