A Nearby Repeating Fast Radio Burst in the Direction of M81

We report on the discovery of FRB 20200120E, a repeating fast radio burst (FRB) with a low dispersion measure (DM) detected by the Canadian Hydrogen Intensity Mapping Experiment FRB project. The source DM of 87.82 pc cm −3 is the lowest recorded from an FRB to date, yet it is significantly higher than the maximum expected from the Milky Way interstellar medium in this direction (∼50 pc cm −3 ). We have detected three bursts and one candidate burst from the source over the period 2020 January–November. The baseband voltage data for the event on 2020 January 20 enabled a sky localization of the source to within ≃14 arcmin 2 (90% confidence). The FRB localization is close to M81, a spiral galaxy at a distance of 3.6 Mpc. The FRB appears on the outskirts of M81 (projected offset ∼20 kpc) but well inside its extended H i and thick disks. We empirically estimate the probability of a chance coincidence with M81 to be