A Mysterious Signal Reached Us From When The Universe Was Just 3 Billion Years Old. Its Home Galaxy Surprised Astronomers.
Astronomers have detected the most distant fast radio burst (FRB) ever recorded, originating from when the universe was only 3 billion years old. The discovery provides new data on these mysterious, high-energy cosmic signals, which may be produced by magnetars.
Why it matters
Understanding the origins of FRBs helps scientists map the history of the universe and the behavior of extreme stellar objects.
Sometimes we receive strange, ghostly radio signals from outer space, which astronomers have yet to conclusively explain.
Partially because they disappear almost as soon as they arrive.
The ephemera known as fast radio bursts (FRBs) are among the Universe's most mysterious occurrences, even more eerie than the supposed little green aliens with a penchant for physical probes.
If they were related, that would neatly solve two major mysteries.
But FRBs are bursts of radio waves from the distant cosmos, generally lasting for tiny fractions of a second (i.e., fast).
Their transience, and the fact that they randomly appear across the sky, have made it difficult to pin down their origins for nearly two decades since their discovery in 2007.
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