A strange flash of radio waves that was recently detected in space has now been traced to its home galaxy – and appears to originate from relatively nearby.

Fast radio bursts (FRBs) are blasts of radio waves that last for only a few milliseconds but can contain as much energy as our sun puts out in decades. Over 50 have been spotted in space since they were first discovered in 2007, however we still don’t know what causes them.

Most detected bursts have been billions of light years away, making them hard to study. …