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Discovery of FRB 20240304B, the Most Distant Fast Radio Burst Ever Recorded, Reveals Details of the Universe Just 3 Billion Years After the Big Bang.
Using the MeerKAT radio telescope, an international team identified a fast radio burst (FRB) that broke distance records. Dubbed FRB 20240304B, it was detected with a redshift of 2.148, meaning it occurred just 3 billion years after the Big Bang.
The finding was published on August 3, on the arXiv scientific server, and represents an important milestone for the study of the primordial universe.
What Are FRBs and Why Is This One Special
Fast radio bursts are extremely intense emissions that last only milliseconds and share characteristics similar to pulsars.
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Although their exact mechanism is still unknown, hypotheses include young magnetars, supernova remnants, and even phenomena related to cosmic strings.
Most importantly, the majority of known FRBs have been observed at redshifts below 0.5. This means there has been little information about events at such great distances.
Therefore, finding such an ancient signal offers a unique opportunity to investigate galaxy formation in very remote times.
Detection and Characteristics of the Signal
FRB 20240304B was recorded on March 4, 2024, by the TUSE (Transient User Supplied Equipment) instrument, installed on MeerKAT.
The data shows a dispersion measure of 2,458.20 pc/cm³, a flux peak of 0.49 Jy, and a scattering time of 5.6 milliseconds at 1.0 GHz.
According to scientists, the explosion occurred during the so-called “cosmic noon,” a period 10 to 11 billion years ago when the star formation rate peaked in the universe.
This temporal location reinforces the event’s significance as a tool to study the cosmic web.
The Host Galaxy Observed by James Webb
The team led by Manisha Caleb from the University of Sydney used the James Webb Space Telescope to identify the host galaxy. It is a low-mass, compact galaxy with intense star formation.
It has about 10 million solar masses, a star formation rate of 0.2 solar masses per year, and metallicity equivalent to only 10% to 20% of solar. These data help understand the environmental conditions in which the FRB was generated.
Polarization and Magnetic Fields
Another relevant detail is that FRB 20240304B exhibited high linear polarization of 49%, while circular polarization was insignificant at just 3%.
Astronomers highlighted that the magnetic fields along the line of sight appeared weaker than expected or had a more complex structure than imagined.
Importance of the Record for Astronomy
This is the most distant fast radio burst ever detected and the first observed in this specific period of cosmic history.
Furthermore, the discovery doubles the previous reach for the redshift in located FRBs, significantly broadening the observational boundaries of the known universe.
Scientific Article published on August 3.
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