A mysterious flash of radio waves has travelled across the universe for more than 10 billion years before reaching Earth. Although the signal lasted only a fraction of a second, it has given astronomers an extraordinary opportunity to investigate the distant cosmos.

An international research team has identified the most distant fast radio burst ever recorded, tracing it to a small galaxy that existed when the universe was approximately three billion years old.

The discovery, published in the scientific journal Science in October 2026, more than doubles the previous distance record and could transform how scientists investigate the hidden matter between galaxies.

What Are Fast Radio Bursts?

Fast radio bursts, or FRBs, are extremely brief but powerful flashes of radio energy originating from distant regions of space. Most last just a few milliseconds, yet they can release enormous amounts of energy during that time.

Their precise origins remain one of astronomy's fascinating mysteries. Scientists have proposed several explanations, including highly magnetised neutron stars known as magnetars.

These incredibly dense objects can form when massive stars collapse and explode as supernovas. Their intense magnetic fields may generate the energetic activity responsible for at least some radio bursts.

However, researchers are still investigating whether different types of cosmic events can produce these signals.

A Discovery Billions Of Years In The Making

The newly identified signal, designated FRB 20240304B, was detected through the MeerTRAP project using South Africa's MeerKAT radio telescope.

Researchers led by Dr Manisha Caleb and Dr Themiya Nanayakkara at the University of Sydney then investigated its origin. The signal had travelled for more than 10 billion years, meaning astronomers were observing an event from a remarkably early period in cosmic history.

Identifying its exact source presented a considerable challenge. The distant galaxy was too faint to be detected by even the largest ground-based optical telescopes.

Scientists therefore turned to NASA's James Webb Space Telescope, combining powerful infrared imaging with spectroscopy to locate the galaxy and measure its distance.

An Unexpected Galaxy Offers Clues

The galaxy responsible for the burst surprised researchers because of its unusual characteristics. It is relatively small, contains low concentrations of elements heavier than helium and is experiencing intense star formation. These properties provide valuable clues about the conditions in which fast radio bursts may originate.

Galaxies actively producing new stars are also environments where massive stars can eventually collapse into neutron stars, including magnetars.

The findings therefore strengthen the possibility that young magnetars are responsible for some FRBs, although they do not establish the cause of this particular burst.

Revealing The Universe's Hidden Matter

The discovery offers benefits extending far beyond identifying an exceptionally distant galaxy.

As radio waves travel through space, they encounter clouds of ionised gas and other material distributed between galaxies. This affects the arrival times of different radio frequencies, producing a measurable effect known as dispersion.

By analysing this effect, astronomers can estimate how much ionised matter the signal passed through during its journey.

Such measurements are particularly valuable because much of the universe's ordinary matter exists in diffuse gas that is difficult to observe directly.

Fast radio bursts can therefore act as natural cosmic probes, helping scientists investigate the distribution of matter across enormous distances.

Could Scientists Look Even Further Back?

The latest achievement suggests that astronomers may eventually detect fast radio bursts originating much closer to the universe's earliest stages.

More powerful observations could reveal signals from periods when the first generations of stars and galaxies were forming.

Future discoveries may also help researchers understand how galaxies developed, how matter became distributed throughout space and how energetic stellar remnants evolved over billions of years.

For now, FRB 20240304B represents a remarkable scientific milestone. A flash lasting only milliseconds has carried information across most of cosmic history, demonstrating how even the briefest astronomical events can illuminate some of the universe's greatest mysteries.