Using the MeerKAT radio telescope, an international team of astronomers have discovered a new fast radio burst, which received designation FRB 20240304B. The measured redshift of FRB 20240304B indicates that it is the most distant fast radio burst known to date. The finding was reported in a research paper published August 3 on the arXiv pre-print server.

Fast radio bursts (FRBs) are intense flashes of radio emission that last only a few milliseconds and showcase the characteristic dispersion sweep of radio pulsars. To date, the physical nature of this mysterious phenomenon remains unknown; however, astronomers consider a variety of explanations ranging from synchrotron maser emission from young magnetars in supernova remnants to cosmic string cusps.

The vast majority of FRBs have been detected at relatively low redshifts of below 0.5. Therefore, their distribution at higher redshift is still poorly studied. That is why astronomers are especially interested in finding new high-redshift FRBs, as they can offer important clues about galaxy formation when the universe was a few billion years old.

Astronomers may have caught a supermassive black hole in the act of forming inside a uniquely shaped galaxy. Astronomers working with the W. M. Keck Observatory on Maunakea, Hawaiʻi Island have identified a rare and unusual galaxy they’ve dubbed the “Infinity” galaxy. This intriguing object appears

Astronomers have discovered potentially the most massive black hole ever detected. The cosmic behemoth is close to the theoretical upper limit of what is possible in the universe and is 10,000 times heavier than the black hole at the center of our own Milky Way galaxy.

It exists in one of the most massive galaxies ever observed—the Cosmic Horseshoe—which is so big it distorts spacetime and warps the passing light of a background galaxy into a giant horseshoe-shaped Einstein ring.

Such is the enormousness of the ultramassive black hole’s size, it equates to 36 billion solar masses, according to a new paper published today in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society.