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The strongest known fast radio burst has been traced to a 7-galaxy pileup

The galactic smashup is located 11 billion light-years from Earth

A satellite image of the host galaxy of FRB 20220610A

Seven galaxies are converging in a space the size of the Milky Way, triggering star formation and, perhaps, odd explosions like fast radio bursts.

NASA, ESA, STScI, Alexa Gordon/Northwestern

By Adam Mann

NEW ORLEANS — A mind-bogglingly strong spurt of electromagnetic energy has for the first time been traced back to a cluster of seven merging galaxies. The finding could bolster the hypothesis that such mysterious flareups, known as fast radio bursts, originate from bizarre, highly magnetized dead stars called magnetars.