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Strangely crisp circles of vigor waves successful abstraction person puzzled astronomers since their astonishment find successful 2019. Now, a squad has analyzed 1 intimately successful hopes that it mightiness springiness up its secrets.
Firing up a caller observatory brings the anticipation of discovering brand-new phenomena retired successful abstraction that our exertion has not been capable to spot before.
That's precisely what happened successful 2019, erstwhile the archetypal aviator survey of CSIRO's ASKAP vigor telescope spotted respective odd vigor circles. They were named, successful classical astronomer fashion, "odd vigor circles" (ORCs).
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These huge, bright, eerily circular structures are intelligibly disposable successful vigor wavelengths but are invisible successful optical, infrared, oregon X-ray wavelengths. Only astir 10 candidates are known truthful far, and their root remains unexplained.
For the caller study, a squad led by scientists astatine Ruhr University Bochum successful Germany intimately examined 1 specified circle, designated ORC J0356-4216.
An annotated MeerKAT representation of ORC J0356–4216. (Taziaux et al., arXiv, 2025)The squad utilized the ASKAP and MeerKAT vigor telescopes – the second of which primitively discovered the ORC successful October 2023 – to survey the wavelengths and polarization of J0356-4216's vigor waves.
The astronomers discovered that the ORC is made up of 2 symmetrical rings, spanning a full diameter of astir 2.18 cardinal light-years. They look to person a polarization of betwixt 20 and 30 percent, with a magnetic tract oriented tangentially to the rings.
Like galore different ORCs, J0356-4216 is centered connected a galaxy, and that could beryllium cardinal to figuring retired however they form.
The researchers accidental that the astir apt mentation is that it's a daze question from past enactment successful the galaxy, which could see starburst outflows, a collision betwixt two galaxies, oregon a signifier erstwhile the cardinal supermassive black hole flared up with increased activity arsenic an active galactic nucleus (AGN).
"In the lawsuit of ORC J0356–4216, the observed double-lobed morphology and polarization characteristics are much readily explained by relic emanation from erstwhile AGN enactment oregon jet-driven outflows," the researchers conclude.
The probe has yet to beryllium peer-reviewed, but is disposable arsenic a preprint connected the arXiv server.
