Astronomers trace most distant FRB 20240304B to 11 billion light-years
Astronomers just found the most distant fast radio burst (FRB) ever recorded, FRB 20240304B.
Using the James Webb Space Telescope and South Africa's MeerKAT radio telescope, they traced it to a galaxy 11 billion light-years away. That means this signal started its journey when the universe was only about 3 billion years old.
The discovery was published in Science on October 8, 2026.
Metal poor starburst hints magnetar link
This FRB came from a galaxy that's small, low in metals, and bursting with new stars: conditions that may support a proposed FRB formation route.
It also hints at a link to magnetars (super-magnetic neutron stars), which many believe are behind these mysterious bursts.
Discoveries like this help us learn more about how galaxies, and the universe itself, evolved billions of years ago.