A team of astronomers has uncovered what may be the first object ever associated with a fast radio burst (FRB) in another galaxy. Using highly precise radio observations and infrared imaging from the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), the researchers traced a powerful cosmic signal to a specific location and found a faint object that could help explain its origin.
The discovery addresses one of the biggest unanswered questions in modern astrophysics: what produces fast radio bursts? These intense flashes of radio waves last only milliseconds, yet they can be detected across immense cosmic distances. Since the first FRB was reported in 2007, astronomers have identified hundreds of such events, but direct evidence linking them to a particular source has remained scarce.
The new study was led by Peter Blanchard, a research associate at the Harvard College Observatory within the Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian (CfA). By combining data from the upgraded CHIME Outriggers radio array and JWST, the team carried out the deepest search yet for an object associated with an FRB.
The target of the investigation was FRB 20250316A, a burst discovered on March 16, 2025, in the galaxy NGC 4141, located approximately 130 million light-years from Earth. Its relative proximity and exceptionally precise localization made it an ideal candidate for follow-up observations.
A Precise Detection Opens a New Window
Fast radio bursts are among the most enigmatic phenomena in astronomy. They appear suddenly, release enormous amounts of energy, and disappear within a fraction of a second. While researchers have established that FRBs originate outside the Milky Way, identifying their exact sources has proven difficult.
The breakthrough came through observations made by the upgraded CHIME Outriggers array in Canada. Its enhanced capabilities allowed astronomers to pinpoint the location of FRB 20250316A with remarkable accuracy and direct JWST toward the exact region where the burst occurred.
According to the release published by Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian, the telescope’s infrared instruments revealed a faint source of light positioned very close to the radio signal’s origin.
“This was a unique opportunity to quickly turn JWST’s powerful infrared eye on the location of an FRB for the first time,” Blanchard said. “And we were rewarded with an exciting result – we see a faint source of infrared light very close to where the radio burst occurred.”
The object detected by JWST was designated NIR-1 and immediately became the focus of further analysis.
A Faint Stellar Object Emerges As A Possible Clue
The infrared observations suggest that NIR-1 is either a red giant star or a middle-aged massive star. A red giant is a Sun-like star nearing the end of its life, while the alternative possibility involves a star substantially more massive than the Sun.
Although neither type of star is expected to generate fast radio bursts directly, the researchers propose that NIR-1 could be part of a binary system containing an unseen neutron star companion. Material pulled from the visible star onto the neutron star could create conditions capable of producing an FRB.
Based on the study,this level of detail has rarely been achieved in FRB research. Edo Berger, a CfA scientist and co-author of the study, noted that astronomers have long lacked the observational data needed to test many of the proposed explanations for these events.
“Being able to isolate individual stars around an FRB is a huge gain over previous searches, and it begins to tell us what sort of stellar systems could produce these powerful bursts,” Berger said.
New Evidence Linking a Mysterious Burst to a Magnetar
The researchers also examined the broader environment surrounding the burst to determine whether NIR-1 was genuinely connected to the FRB. Their analysis identified a small cluster of young massive stars near the burst location.
This finding led the team to consider another leading explanation involving a magnetar, a highly magnetized neutron star formed after the collapse of a massive star. According to the study, one of the massive stars in the nearby cluster may already have evolved into such an object and could be responsible for producing the radio burst. A magnetar at that distance would be too faint to appear directly in JWST observations.
The study also stated that a massive star in the nearby cluster may already have evolved into a magnetar capable of producing the radio burst. Such an object would be too faint to appear directly in the JWST images.
The findings, published inThe Astrophysical Journal Letters, also evaluated alternative scenarios, including the possibility that the burst originated from an object within a dense cluster of old stars or from a massive giant star. The researchers ruled out those explanations because they would have produced a significantly brighter infrared signal than the one observed.
“Whether or not the association with the star is real, we’ve learned a lot about the burst’s origin,” Blanchard said. “If a double star system isn’t the answer, our work hints that an isolated magnetar caused the FRB.”
The team also noted that the infrared signal could be reflected emission from a flare associated with the object that produced the radio burst. Future JWST observations will determine whether the source fades over time.
