Science & Tech · Space · 11 hrs ago
Webb traces most distant known fast radio burst to a small galaxy
The James Webb Space Telescope traced a fast radio burst to a small galaxy in the early universe.
The signal, called FRB 20240304B, was detected in 2024 by the MeerTRAP team using the MeerKAT telescope in South Africa.
Webb measured the galaxy’s redshift at 2.148, showing that the burst began when the universe was about three billion years old.
That makes it the most distant fast radio burst identified so far.
Astronomers had expected a much larger galaxy, but Webb found a dwarf galaxy about 1,000 times less massive than anticipated, actively forming stars.
Fast radio bursts last only milliseconds, and scientists still do not know exactly what causes them.
The galaxy’s young, active environment may help explain the burst’s origin, but the discovery does not settle the question.
Webb traced the most distant known fast radio burst to a small, star-forming galaxy.
The burst, FRB 20240304B, came from a galaxy that existed when the universe was about three billion years old.
Webb measured the galaxy’s redshift at 2.148, confirming its great distance.
The galaxy was a dwarf roughly 1,000 times less massive than astronomers had expected.
The discovery may help scientists understand what produces fast radio bursts, whose origins remain uncertain.
- Who
- NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope and the astronomers studying FRB 20240304B.
- What
- Webb traced the most distant fast radio burst identified to date to a small, star-forming galaxy.
- When
- The burst was detected on March 4, 2024. The galaxy existed when the universe was about three billion years old.
- Where
- The burst originated in a dwarf galaxy in the early universe; it was detected using the MeerKAT radio telescope in South Africa.
- Why
- The discovery may help scientists understand what produces fast radio bursts. Their origins remain uncertain.
This story does not have two clearly opposing sides.
The MeerTRAP team detected FRB 20240304B using the MeerKAT radio telescope in South Africa.
Webb detected the burst’s host galaxy with NIRCam and measured its redshift with NIRSpec.
- Burst
- FRB 20240304B
- Detection date
- March 4, 2024
- Radio telescope
- MeerKAT, South Africa
- Redshift
- 2.148
- Host galaxy
- Dwarf galaxy roughly 1,000 times less massive than anticipated
What people are saying
We thought it would be a big, nicely formed galaxy with lots of stars, and instead it was a little dwarf galaxy, although it was actively forming stars