Astronomers have detected the most distant fast radio burst ever recorded. The millisecond flash of radio energy traveled about 10 billion years through space to reach Earth. NASA's James Webb Space Telescope measured the distance and traced the signal back to a small, young galaxy.

The find provides astronomers a clearer picture of where these powerful signals come from. Fast radio bursts have baffled researchers for years. This one sets a new distance record and suggests a likely origin for the whole class of events.