The oldest and most distant Fast Radio Burst (FRB) has been detected by an international team of scientists in a galaxy so far away that its light took eight billion years to reach us.

The research is published in the journal “Science” and according to this n explosionwhich was named FRB 20220610Aare among the most energetic ever observed, as well in a tiny fraction of a second it released the equivalent of the Sun’s total emission for 30 years.

Artist’s rendering depicting the path of the fast radio burst FRB 20220610A from the distant galaxy where it originated to Earth. Credit: ESO/M.Kornmesser

The source of the burst was spotted by the European Southern Observatory’s (ESO) Very Large Telescope (VLT) and found to be a group of two or three merging galaxies.

What are fast radio bursts?

The fast bursts of radio wavesfleeting bursts of energy brighter than entire galaxies, they can emit as much energy in milliseconds as the Sun emits in a few days. To date, about 50 such explosions have been detected.

It may not yet be known what causes these massive bursts of energy, but the discovery offers new insights into the distant universe. It is also confirmed that FRBs can be used to measure the “lost” matter between galaxies and provide a new way to estimate the mass of the Universe. Current methods of estimating the mass of the Universe give conflicting answers.

“If we measure the amount of normal matter in the Universe -the individuals we are all made of- we find that more than half of what should be there today is missing. We believe that the missing matter is hidden in the space between galaxiesbut it can be so hot and diffuse that it’s impossible to see with normal techniques,” explains Swinburne University of Technology Professor Ryan Shannon, one of the study’s leaders. “Fast radio bursts detect this ionized material”he adds himself.