Cosmic flashes pinpointed to a surprising location in space
[Source of mysterious radio signals an artists impression of a magnetar in a cluster of ancient stars in red close to the spiral galaxy Messier 81 M81 ] Astronomers have been surprised by the closest source of the mysterious flashes in the sky known as fast radio bursts. Precision measurements with radio telescopes reveal that the bursts are made among old stars, and in a way that no one was expecting. The source of the flashes, in nearby spiral galaxy M 81, is the closest of its kind to Earth. Fast radio bursts are unpredictable, extremely short flashes of light from space.