Astronomers locate most distant fast radio burst using Webb and MeerKAT

Astronomers using NASA's James Webb Space Telescope and South Africa's MeerKAT radio telescope have pinpointed the host galaxy of the most distant fast radio burst observed to date. The South African Radio Astronomy Observatory, NASA, and the W. M. Keck Observatory reported the discovery on October 8, 2026. [1][2][5][6]

According to IFLScience, the signal from this record-breaking radio burst traveled for more than 10 billion years through space before reaching Earth. Sky and Telescope reported that the signal traversed a large portion of the universe, breaking previous distance records for fast radio bursts. [3][4][7]

Fast radio bursts are millisecond-long, highly energetic flashes of radio emissions originating in deep space. First discovered in 2007, their exact physical origins remain uncertain because most observed bursts erupt once and never repeat. NASA reported that identifying this distant host galaxy provides new clues about the energetic cosmic events that create them. [2][10]

The uncrewed James Webb Space Telescope made the infrared observations needed to pinpoint the source galaxy. The 64-antenna MeerKAT radio telescope array, located in the Northern Cape of South Africa inside a protected radio quiet zone, provided crucial radio detection data. [1][2][5][9]