Sri Lankan scientist Themiya Nanayakkara has been part of an international team of researchers that discovered the oldest fast radio burst ever recorded, originating from a galaxy approximately 10 billion years ago.
The groundbreaking discovery, published in the scientific journal Science, could help astronomers better understand the evolution of the universe and the vast network of matter known as the cosmic web.
The research team, led by University of Sydney astrophysicist Dr. Manisha Caleb, included Nanayakkara, who was identified as a co-author of the study.
The mysterious burst, named FRB 20240304B, was first recorded in 2024 by the MeerKAT radio telescope in South Africa.
Scientists subsequently used NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope to trace the signal to a small, actively star-forming galaxy that existed just three billion years after the Big Bang.
Fast radio bursts are extremely powerful flashes of radio waves lasting only a few milliseconds. Despite their brief duration, they can release as much energy as the Sun produces over several days.
Researchers believe these bursts may originate from highly magnetized neutron stars known as magnetars, although their precise origins remain uncertain.
Speaking to Australia’s ABC News, Dr. Caleb described the discovery as extraordinary, noting that the signal began its journey billions of years before the Sun and solar system existed.
The discovery is particularly significant because scientists believe distant fast radio bursts could help map the cosmic web, a vast structure containing much of the universe’s ordinary matter.
The international research team hopes the findings will provide new insights into how galaxies and matter evolved over billions of years. (Newswire)
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