juliensimon/chime-frb-catalog

---
license: cc-by-4.0
pretty_name: "CHIME/FRB Catalog"
language:
- en
description: "Fast Radio Bursts detected by the Canadian Hydrogen Intensity Mapping Experiment (CHIME), the world's most prolific FRB detector. Sourced via VizieR CDS Strasbourg."
task_categories:
- tabular-classification
tags:
- space
- frb
- fast-radio-burst
- chime
- radio
- astronomy
- open-data
size_categories:
- 1K<n<10K
---

# CHIME/FRB Catalog


Fast Radio Bursts (FRBs) detected by the Canadian Hydrogen Intensity Mapping Experiment (CHIME)
telescope. Currently **600** FRB events from the First CHIME/FRB Catalog.

## Dataset description

Fast Radio Bursts are millisecond-duration radio transients of extragalactic origin -- one of
the most exciting mysteries in modern astrophysics. First discovered in 2007, their physical
origin remains debated, though magnetars are a leading candidate. CHIME, a radio telescope
at the Dominion Radio Astrophysical Observatory in British Columbia, Canada, has revolutionized
FRB science by detecting hundreds of bursts thanks to its enormous field of view
(~200 square degrees) and continuous operation at 400-800 MHz.

The First CHIME/FRB Catalog (CHIME/FRB Collaboration, 2021, ApJS, 257, 59) contains FRBs
detected between 2018 July 25 and 2019 July 1, representing the largest uniform FRB sample
to date.

## Schema

| Column | Type | Description |
|--------|------|-------------|
| `tns_name` | string | Transient Name Server designation (e.g. FRB 20181030A) |
| `ra_deg` | float64 | Right ascension (degrees) |
| `dec_deg` | float64 | Declination (degrees) |
| `dm_pc_cm3` | float64 | Dispersion measure (pc/cm^3) |
| `width_ms` | float64 | Burst width (milliseconds) |
| `flux_jy` | float64 | Peak flux density (Jy) |
| `fluence_jy_ms` | float64 | Fluence (Jy ms) |
| `scattering_time_ms` | float64 | Scattering timescale (ms) |
| `snr` | float64 | Signal-to-noise ratio |
| `is_repeater` | bool | True if source is a known repeater |
| `sub_burst_count` | float64 | Number of sub-bursts |

## Quick stats

- **600** FRB events
- **94** from repeating sources
- Median DM: **503.9** pc/cm^3
- Max DM: **3037.7** pc/cm^3
- Median S/N: **15.3**

## Usage

```python
from datasets import load_dataset

ds = load_dataset("juliensimon/chime-frb-catalog", split="train")
df = ds.to_pandas()

# DM distribution
import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
df["dm_pc_cm3"].hist(bins=50)
plt.xlabel("Dispersion Measure (pc/cm^3)")
plt.ylabel("Count")
plt.title("CHIME/FRB DM Distribution")

# Repeaters vs one-offs
repeaters = df[df["is_repeater"] == True]
one_offs = df[df["is_repeater"] == False]
print(f"Repeaters: {len(repeaters)}, One-offs: {len(one_offs)}")

# Sky distribution
plt.figure(figsize=(12, 6))
plt.scatter(df["ra_deg"], df["dec_deg"], c=df["dm_pc_cm3"], s=5, cmap="viridis")
plt.colorbar(label="DM (pc/cm^3)")
plt.xlabel("RA (deg)")
plt.ylabel("Dec (deg)")
plt.title("CHIME/FRB Sky Distribution")
```

## Data source

[CHIME/FRB Collaboration](https://www.chime-frb.ca/), 2021, ApJS, 257, 59.
"The First CHIME/FRB Fast Radio Burst Catalog", accessed via
[VizieR](https://vizier.cds.unistra.fr/), CDS Strasbourg.

## Update schedule

Semi-annually (1st of the month at 06:00 UTC) via [GitHub Actions](https://github.com/juliensimon/space-datasets).

## Related datasets

- [pulsar-catalog](https://huggingface.co/datasets/juliensimon/pulsar-catalog) -- ATNF Pulsar Catalogue
- [gamma-ray-bursts](https://huggingface.co/datasets/juliensimon/gamma-ray-bursts) -- Fermi GBM Gamma-Ray Burst Catalog
- [gravitational-waves](https://huggingface.co/datasets/juliensimon/gravitational-waves) -- LIGO/Virgo Gravitational Wave Events

## Pipeline

Source code: [juliensimon/space-datasets](https://github.com/juliensimon/space-datasets)

## Citation

```bibtex
@dataset{chime_frb_catalog,
author = {Simon, Julien},
title = {CHIME/FRB Catalog},
year = {2026},
publisher = {Hugging Face},
url = {https://huggingface.co/datasets/juliensimon/chime-frb-catalog},
note = {Based on CHIME/FRB Collaboration (2021, ApJS, 257, 59) via VizieR CDS Strasbourg}
}
```

## License

[CC-BY-4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)