Mattias Lazda

When a massive star exhausts its thermonuclear fuel, its core collapses and the outer layers are blown off in a colossal explosion — a supernova (a term coined by Fritz Zwicky while studying these catastrophes).

Fast radio bursts are instantaneous radio flashes from deep space. In a thousandth of a second they release as much energy as the Sun emits in a month. One such burst, repeating, allowed scientists to peer into the epicenter of a recent stellar explosion.

Picture a lighthouse on the shore at night. Its lamp is off almost all the time, but once every few days, for a split second, it blazes so brightly that the light is visible beyond the horizon.