Magnetars, which are a kind of neutron star, may be the source of fast radio bursts<\/p>\n
Science Photo Library\/Alamy<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>\n
A strange flash of light from near the beginning of the universe could help astronomers map difficult-to-see gas in between galaxies, like a flashbulb in a dark room.<\/p>\n
Fast radio bursts (FRBs) are extremely short but powerful blasts of radio-frequency light that have puzzled astronomers since they were first spotted in 2007. A leading theory is that they are produced by extremely magnetic neutron stars, called magnetars. But because we only know of a few thousand examples in the whole universe, with most coming from galaxies that are relatively close to the Milky Way, there is much we still don\u2019t understand about them.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n Now, Manisha Caleb at the University of Sydney, Australia, and her colleagues have spotted an extremely distant FRB that originated from a galaxy that existed just 3 billion years after the start of the universe, which is billions of years older than the previous record holder.<\/p>\n Caleb and her team first spotted the burst, called 20240304B, using the MeerKAT radio telescope in South Africa in March 2024 and followed up the source with observations from the James Webb Space Telescope. They found the flash came from a small, faint galaxy that appeared to be relatively young and formed its stars quickly.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is fantastically far away,\u201d says Jason Hessels at the University of Amsterdam in the Netherlands. FRB 20240304B comes from a time in the universe called cosmic noon, when the rate of new stars forming was at its peak. This, along with the galaxy\u2019s young age, might suggest that this FRB, and at least some others, come from young stars that have recently exploded in supernovae and collapsed into magnetars, says Hessels.<\/p>\n One reason why astronomers are interested in FRBs is that\u00a0the universe is full of ionised gas, which has lost its electrons due to radiation produced by stars. This gas makes up the vast majority of all matter in the universe, and understanding its distribution is key for working out how larger objects, like stars and galaxies, formed. But it is difficult to see unless there is a source of light passing through it, like an FRB.<\/p>\n \u201cThis bright flash is illuminating all of the ionised material between us and where the flash originated, so you can use that to map the gas, and magnetic fields, that are between stars and galaxies,\u201d says Hessels.<\/p>\n Because FRB 20240304B was active during a time in the universe\u2019s history when the first stars were forming and ionising the gas around them, we can use it to build a timeline of when those stars first switched on, says Anastasia Fialkov at the University of Cambridge. And this will only improve if we find even more distant FRBs.<\/p>\n Experience the astronomical highlights of Chile. Visit some of the world\u2019s most technologically advanced observatories and stargaze beneath some of the clearest skies on earth.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/section>\n Topics:<\/p>\n<\/section><\/div>\n![\"New](\"https:\/\/images.newscientist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/28003449\/shutterstock_1102540808-scaled.jpg\")
\n <\/picture>\nThe world capital of astronomy: Chile<\/h3>\n