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Access through your institution Buy or subscribe Fast radio bursts (FRBs) fall into two observational categories: those that repeat and those that are not seen to repeat. In the current

sample of FRBs (_O_(103)) just 1 in every 14 bursts has been observed to repeat, but potentially all FRBs emit repeat bursts, with those after the first evading detection. There are no clear

(astro)physical differences between the two categories, but there are hints of distinctions that may offer clues to the nature of FRB sources. Manisha Caleb and colleagues report on an

apparently non-repeating FRB with some of the hallmarks of a repeater, which suggests that the hints of differences may not stand up to scrutiny. FRB 20210410D was detected with the MeerKAT

radio interferometer in South Africa, but 16 hours of follow-up observations with different instruments at different frequencies have not resulted in a repeat detection. The FRB was

localized to a galaxy at _z_ = 0.14, and calculation of the burst’s dispersion measure (DM; a quantity relating to the passage of the burst through the ionized medium between source and

receiver) revealed a very high contribution from the host galaxy. Significant host galaxy DM contributions had been associated with repeating FRBs. Another potential hallmark of a repeater

is the downward frequency drift in the spectrum (known as the ‘sad trombone’); this is also evident in FRB 20210410D. However, there is no detection of a persistent radio source, which is

often associated with prolific repeaters. This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution ACCESS OPTIONS Access through your institution Access Nature and 54 other

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AND AFFILIATIONS * Nature Astronomy https://www.nature.com/natastron/ Paul Woods Authors * Paul Woods View author publications You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar

CORRESPONDING AUTHOR Correspondence to Paul Woods. RIGHTS AND PERMISSIONS Reprints and permissions ABOUT THIS ARTICLE CITE THIS ARTICLE Woods, P. When will I see you again?. _Nat Astron_ 7,

760 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41550-023-02044-3 Download citation * Published: 12 July 2023 * Issue Date: July 2023 * DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41550-023-02044-3 SHARE THIS

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