Radio Waves Received from the Dark Depths of the Cosmos

Astronomers have detected a mysterious glow of radio waves released billions of years ago from a very, very distant galaxy. The waves have traveled more than 10 billion years through space to reach Earth. Researchers believe this is the most distant "fast radio burst" (FRB) ever recorded.

Astronomers have detected a mysterious glow of radio waves that was released billions of years ago in a galaxy far, far away in the universe and traveled through space for more than 10 billion years to reach Earth. Researchers believe this is the most distant Fast Radio Burst (FRB) ever recorded.

According to Ambassador Arjan, quoted by Euronews, fast radio bursts are very intense explosions of radio waves that can release as much energy as the sun produces over months or years in just a few milliseconds.

These mysterious pulses were first discovered in 2007, and since then scientists have been facing many questions.

According to a new study published in the scientific journal Science, the recently discovered radio burst occurred when the universe was only about 3 billion years old. In this way, the waves of this eruption have been traveling during "approximately 80% of the history of the universe".

The burst, named FRB 20240304B, is believed to be the most distant fast radio burst ever detected; A distance more than twice the previous record.

Scientists detected this burst using the Meerkat Radio Telescope (MeerKAT) in South Africa, and then found its source galaxy with the help of NASA's James Webb Space Telescope.

According to Dr. Tamiya Nanayakkara of the University of Sydney and one of the lead researchers on the paper, when the eruption occurred "there was no Earth and no Sun."

Data from the James Webb telescope also showed that the eruption originated from "a very young, very small galaxy that is forming stars at a very high rate and has very little metal content."

Since 2007, more than 10,000 fast radio bursts have been detected. Some of these eruptions recur continuously, while others occur only once and are never seen again.

According to Nanayakkara, the detection of fast radio bursts from greater distances will allow scientists to map invisible matter in the far reaches of the universe. Fast radio bursts are affected by particles that pass through them on their way; This feature allows scientists to measure the amount of matter that cannot be seen with optical telescopes.