From - Sky & Telescope By Monica Young Edited by Amal Udawatta In an ejection that would have caused its rotation to slow, a magnetar is depicted losing material into space in this artist’s concept. The magnetar’s strong, twisted magnetic field lines (shown in green) can influence the flow of electrically charged material from the object, which is a type of neutron star. NASA / JPL-Caltech A huge clue to understanding the mysterious, fleeting flashes of radio waves known as fast radio bursts (FRBs) came when one went off in our own galaxy. A highly magnetized neutron star, or magnetar , dubbed SGR 1935+2154, emitted an FRB-like burst on April 28, 2020, and suddenly astronomers had an FRB to study in our own backyard. Since then, astronomers have been waiting for a repeat. In October 2022, they struck rich once again — and this time, they were ready. Until 2020, almost all known FRBs originated in faraway galaxies. Yet each one relayed more energy in a fraction of a s