A dead star in our own galaxy was caught spitting out the same mystery radio bursts we usually see from deep space.
March 24, 2026
Original Paper
Transient narrowband radio bursts from 1E 1547.0-5408
arXiv · 2603.21450
The Takeaway
For years, astronomers have been puzzled by 'Fast Radio Bursts' (FRBs)—intense flashes of energy coming from deep space. By catching a local magnetar performing the exact same behavior, researchers have provided a 'smoking gun' that these cosmic mysteries are actually generated by ultra-dense, highly magnetic neutron stars.
From the abstract
Radio-loud magnetars are well known for exhibiting rare and unusual radiative properties that are seldom seen in the wider pulsar population. Yet one form of emissive behavior that remains elusive among pulsars and magnetars is narrowband bursts of radio waves. Such emission is a hallmark of repeating sources of fast radio bursts (FRBs), intense radio flashes that originate from distant galaxies. Here, we report the detection of 84 narrowband radio bursts during observations of the magnetar 1E 1