# Webb Pins Down the Most Distant Fast Radio Burst, Pointing to a Magnetar Origin

*2026-10-28 11:02 UTC · Science · 1 min read*

> James Webb located the host of FRB 20240304B, a young dwarf galaxy 3 billion years after the Big Bang, supporting a magnetar origin.

Astronomers have used the James Webb Space Telescope to pinpoint the host of the most distant fast radio burst seen so far. FRB 20240304B, detected by South Africa's MeerKAT telescope on 4 March 2024, lies at redshift 2.148, about 3 billion years after the Big Bang.

Webb's NIRCam found the host, a small, young dwarf galaxy still actively forming stars, and NIRSpec measured its redshift. The galaxy is about 1,000 times less massive than the team expected for an FRB host. Its stars likely formed within the last 30 million years, which supports a magnetar origin: a young neutron star left by a supernova. A neutron-star merger is very unlikely, as it would take billions of years.

The team, led by Manisha Caleb of the University of Sydney, also found signs of an unknown galaxy cluster along the burst's path. The results appear in Science. MeerKAT may detect several FRBs per year at redshift above 1.0.

## Sources

- [esawebb.org](https://esawebb.org/news/weic2621/)

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TechTools News · https://techtools.cz/tools/news/article/2593-webb-pins-down-the-most-distant-fast-radio-burst-pointing-to-a-magnetar-origin
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