Scientists have detected the most distant blazar ever recorded, about eight billion light-years from Earth.

The blazar, OP 313, is a flat-spectrum radio quasar, among the brightest and most powerful sources of radiation in the universe. It was spotted by the CTAO LST-1 prototype and the MAGIC telescope on La Palma in Spain.

OP 313 emitted its powerful burst of very-high-energy gamma rays in December 2023. Follow-up observations confirmed the record distance.

The findings, published in Astronomy and Astrophysics, involved researchers from the University of Geneva, which leads the Swiss consortium for the Cherenkov Telescope Array Observatory.

Blazars are powered by supermassive black holes. Studying the most distant ones helps astronomers probe the universe’s most active era, known as cosmic noon.

The University of Geneva leads the Swiss consortium for the Cherenkov Telescope Array Observatory, which made the detection possible.

Around 11 billion years ago, the universe went through a peak of star and galaxy formation called cosmic noon. Distant blazars help astronomers study that era.