James Webb Pinpoints Origin Galaxy of Farthest Fast Radio Burst
The origin galaxy is about 1,000 times smaller than expected, and the burst occurred roughly 3 billion years after the Big Bang.
Astronomers used the James Webb Space Telescope to identify the origin galaxy of the farthest fast radio burst detected to date. Webb's near-infrared instruments detected a galaxy at the location from which the burst came, according to a study published in the journal Science.
Measurements of the stretching of the galaxy's light indicate the burst occurred about 3 billion years after the Big Bang. The origin galaxy is roughly 1,000 times smaller than expected. Manisha Caleb of the University of Sydney is the lead author of the study.
The team concluded it is very unlikely the burst was produced by a merger of two neutron stars.
Background
The burst was originally detected in 2024 using the MeerKAT ground telescope array, which at the time marked the farthest fast radio burst seen to date. Fast radio bursts were first discovered in 2007, and previous bursts were detected billions of years later than this one, in massive star-forming galaxies.
Quick answers
What did the James Webb Space Telescope find?
Webb's near-infrared instruments detected a galaxy at the location from which the farthest fast radio burst detected to date came.
When did the burst occur?
Measurements of the stretching of the galaxy's light indicate the burst occurred about 3 billion years after the Big Bang.
Where was the study published?
The study was published in the journal Science, with Manisha Caleb of the University of Sydney as lead author.