The relation between ices in the envelopes and disks surrounding YSOs and those in the quiescent interstellar medium is investigated. For a sample of 31 stars behind isolated dense cores, ground-based and Spitzer spectra and photometry in the 1-25 µm wavelength range are combined. The baseline for the broad and overlapping ice features is modeled, using calculated spectra of giants, H 2 O ice and silicates. The adopted extinction curve is derived empirically. Its high resolution allows for the separation of continuum and feature extinction. The extinction between 13-25 µm is ∼50% relative to that at 2.2 µm. The strengths of the 6.0 and 6.85 µm absorption bands are in line with those of YSOs. Thus, their carriers, which, besides H 2 O and CH 3 OH, may include NH + 4 , HCOOH, H 2 CO and NH 3 , are readily formed in the dense core phase, before stars form. The 3.53 µm C-H stretching mode of solid CH 3 OH was discovered. The CH 3 OH/H 2 O abundance ratios of 5-12% are larger than upper limits in the Taurus molecular cloud. The initial ice composition, before star formation occurs, therefore depends on the environment. Signs of thermal and energetic processing that were found toward some YSOs are absent in the ices toward background stars. Finally, the peak optical depth of the 9.7 µm band of silicates relative to the continuum extinction at 2.2 µm is significantly shallower than in the diffuse interstellar medium. This extends the results of Chiar et al. (2007) to a larger sample and higher extinctions.

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 <10 −2 . However, we cannot reject a Milky Way halo origin for the FRB. Within the FRB localization region, we find several interesting cataloged M81 sources and a radio point source detected in the Very Large Array Sky Survey. We search for prompt X-ray counterparts in Swift Burst Alert Telescope and Fermi/GBM data, and, for two of the FRB 20200120E bursts, we rule out coincident SGR 1806 −20-like X-ray bursts. Due to the proximity of FRB 20200120E, future follow-up for prompt multiwavelength counterparts and subarcsecond localization could be constraining of proposed FRB models. Unified AstronomyThesaurus concepts: Radio transient sources (2008); Radio bursts (1339); Transient sources (1851); Radio pulsars (1353)