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Published Online September 27, 2007
Science DOI: 10.1126/science.1147532

Reports

Submitted on July 9, 2007
Accepted on September 20, 2007

A Bright Millisecond Radio Burst of Extragalactic Origin

D. R. Lorimer 1*, M. Bailes 2, M. A. McLaughlin 1, D. J. Narkevic 3, F. Crawford 4

1 Department of Physics, West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV 26506, USA.; National Radio Astronomy Observatory, Green Bank, WV 24944, USA.
2 Centre for Astrophysics and Supercomputing, Swinburne University of Technology, Hawthorn, Victoria 3122, Australia.
3 Department of Physics, West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV 26506, USA.
4 Department of Physics and Astronomy, Franklin and Marshall College, Lancaster, PA 17604, USA.

* To whom correspondence should be addressed.
D. R. Lorimer , E-mail: duncan.lorimer{at}mail.wvu.edu

Pulsar surveys offer one of the few opportunities to monitor even a small fraction (~10-5) of the radio sky for impulsive burst-like events with millisecond durations. In analysis of archival survey data, we have discovered a 30-Jy dispersed burst of duration <5 ms located three degrees from the Small Magellanic Cloud. The burst properties argue against a physical association with our Galaxy or the Small Magellanic Cloud. Current models for the free electron content in the Universe imply the burst is <1 Gpc distant. No further bursts are seen in 90-hr of additional observations, implying that it was a singular event such as a supernova or coalescence of relativistic objects. Hundreds of similar events could occur every day and act as insightful cosmological probes.




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Science. ISSN 0036-8075 (print), 1095-9203 (online)