Not a "distant universe" but our universe distant in time ( aka our universe in the past when it was younger ).

The title reads like astronomers found a mysterious dark object in another universe. Like a distant solar system or a distant galaxy.

Or am I misunderstanding the findings here?

no it doesn't

"Astronomers 'image' a mysterious dark object in the distant galaxy".

Would you assume the headline is referring to a galaxy far away (spatially) or your own galaxy in the past?