Astronomers have detected what they believe to be the most distant fast radio burst (FRB) ever recorded. The burst consists of radio waves that travelled for more than 10 billion years before reaching Earth, according to The Guardian. The flash originated from a galaxy so remote that it represents light from approximately 80 percent of cosmic history.
Fast radio bursts are intense, brief flashes of radio energy whose origins remain poorly understood. The newly detected burst's extreme distance makes it a significant observational achievement for radio astronomy.
The source material does not specify which observatory or team made the detection, when the observation occurred, or technical details about how astronomers confirmed the burst's distance. The article does not explain what might cause such bursts or what scientists hope to learn from studying this particular event.