Overview

• Detected on March 16, 2025, the burst dubbed RBFLOAT lasted milliseconds and released energy comparable to several days of the Sun’s output.
• Combining CHIME with new Outrigger stations delivered tens‑of‑milliarcsecond precision, locating the source on a spiral arm’s edge just outside a star‑forming clump about 130 million light‑years away.
• JWST imaging revealed a faint infrared source near the localization, raising an unconfirmed possibility of a red‑giant–neutron‑star system at the site.
• A search of six years of CHIME data found no previous activity from the region, indicating the event has not repeated over that span.
• Findings were published August 21 in The Astrophysical Journal Letters, with researchers highlighting new tests of progenitor ideas such as magnetars as more precisely localized FRBs accumulate.