A nearby repeating fast radio burst in the direction of M81

Understand

We report on the discovery of FRB 20200120E, a repeating fast radio burst (FRB) with low dispersion measure (DM), detected by the Canadian Hydrogen Intensity Mapping Experiment (CHIME)/FRB project.

• The source DM of 87.82 pc cm$^{-3}$ is the lowest recorded from an FRB to date, yet is significantly higher than the maximum expected from the Milky Way interstellar medium in this direction (~ 50 pc cm$^{-3}$).
• We have detected three bursts and one candidate burst from the source over the period 2020 January-November.
• The baseband voltage data for the event on 2020 January 20 enabled a sky localization of the source to within $\simeq$ 14 sq.