These fascinating objects have baffled scientists since they were first discovered in 2020, using Australia’s Square Kilometer Array Pathfinder radio telescope. These aptly named Odd Radio Circles, or ORCs, are circles of radio waves that appear to emit no radiation in other wavelengths, unlike many other detectable objects in radio frequencies.
Astronomers believe it takes 1 billion years for the circles to grow to their maximum size, and they are so large that the objects have extended beyond other galaxies.
Three hypotheses
“We know that ORCs are rings of faint radio emissions surrounding a galaxy with a very active black hole at its center, but we don’t yet know what causes them, or why they are so rare,” the co said. -study author, Ray Norris.
Three hypotheses have been made by scientists: First, these strange radio circles could be the remnants of a huge explosion at the center of a galaxy, much like what happens when two supermassive black holes merge. Second, they could be powerful jets pumping energetic particles from the galactic center. Or third, they could be the result of a starburst shock wave triggered by star birth in a galaxy.
Only five radio circles have been found in space so far.
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