Beautiful Virgin Islands

Monday, Aug 04, 2025

Gigantic, Near-Perfectly Circular Radio Objects Found in Distant Universe Baffle Scientists

Gigantic, Near-Perfectly Circular Radio Objects Found in Distant Universe Baffle Scientists

The Australian Square Kilometre Array Pathfinder (ASKAP), a powerful telescope developed and operated by the country’s science agency CSIRO, became fully operational in February 2019 and has been conducting pilot surveys of the sky to map the structure and evolution of the Universe.

Recent research may hold the clue to an enigma that has been puzzling astronomers over the past few years.
A mysterious handful of huge, almost perfectly circular radio objects, located in a distant universe, are yet to be explained by science.

Now, a new one has been spotted and added to the list by a team of scientists, who posted their findings on 27 April to the preprint database arXiv. The research has since been accepted for publication in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. This discovery may be the first step towards finally finding out what they are.


‘Odd Radio Circles’


It all started after the Australian Square Kilometre Array Pathfinder (ASKAP), in Western Australia, became operational in 2019.

ASKAP is a telescope designed over a decade ago that scans the heavens in the radio part of the electromagnetic spectrum, and started producing pilot surveys of the night sky ahead of planned large-scale projects from 2021 onward.


The telescope uses a novel technology developed by Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), which is a kind of a “radio camera”, consisting of 36 dish antennas.

ASKAP scientists were always keeping an eye out "for whatever is weird, whatever is new, and whatever looks like nothing else," according to Bärbel Koribalski, a galactic astronomer at CSIRO and Western Sydney University, Australia, cited by Live Science.

While scanning data, member of the scientific team Anna D. Kapińska of the National Radio Astronomy Observatory in Socorro, New Mexico, spotted four bright radio circles.

However, as attempt to observe them via telescopes in other wavelengths, the search failed to find anything. Thus, the team dubbed them “odd radio circles” (ORCs). Each of the ORCs had a galaxy sitting almost exactly in its centre. The entities were determined to be several billion light-years away, and potentially a few million light-years in diameter.


In their paper published last year, the team came up with 11 possible explanations as to what they could be, ranging from imaging glitches, warps in space-time (Einstein rings), or remnants from a supernova explosion.

This composite image made available by NASA shows a neutron star, center, left behind by the explosion from the original star's death in the constellation Taurus, observed on Earth as the supernova of A.D. 1054. This image uses data from three of NASA's observatories: the Chandra X-ray image is shown in blue, the Hubble Space Telescope optical image is in red and yellow, and the Spitzer Space Telescope's infrared image is in purple. After nearly two decades in Earth orbit, scanning the universe with infrared eyes, ground controllers plan to put the faltering Spitzer Space Telescope into permanent hibernation on Thursday, Jan. 29, 2020


After finding one more ORC since then, the team has narrowed their theories down to three potential explanations, according to Koribalski.

The first is that they may be additional galaxies forming a cluster near the object. Possibly, they bend bright material into a ring-like structure too faint to be picked up by current telescopes.

The second is that the supermassive black hole inside these galaxies is consuming gas and dust. This would result in cone-shape jets of particles and energy being produced.

There is also another more “exciting” explanation, in line with which some unknown, highly energetic event took place in the middle of these galaxies.

It might have generated a blast wave that travelled out as a sphere, thus producing the ring structure. Further telescope observations in other wavelengths are now required to help scientists unravel the mystery of what is going on.

Newsletter

Related Articles

Beautiful Virgin Islands
0:00
0:00
Close
OpenAI’s Bold Bet: Teaching AI to Think, Not Just Chat
Tesla Seeks Shareholder Approval for $29 Billion Compensation Package for Elon Musk
Nvidia is cutting prices on its RTX 50-series graphics cards after sales slowed and inventories piled up
Ghislaine Maxwell Transferred to Minimum-Security Prison Amid Ongoing DOJ Discussions
U.S. Tariffs Surge to Highest Levels in Nearly a Century Under Second Trump Term
Matt Taibbi Slams Media for Role in Russiagate Narrative
Pilots Call for Mental Health Support Without Stigma
All Five Trapped Miners Found Dead After El Teniente Mine Collapse
Ong Beng Seng Pleads Guilty in Corruption Case Linked to Former Singapore Transport Minister
BP’s Largest Oil and Gas Find in 25 Years Uncovered Offshore Brazil
Italy Fines Shein One Million Euros for Misleading Sustainability Claims
JPMorgan and Coinbase Unveil Partnership to Let Chase Cardholders Buy Crypto Directly
Declassified Annex Links Soros‑Affiliated Officials and Clinton Campaign to ‘Russiagate’ Narrative
UK's Online Safety Law: A Front for Censorship
Nationwide Protests Erupt in Brazil Demanding Presidential Resignation
Parents Abandon Child at Barcelona Airport Over Passport Issue
Mystery Surrounds Death of Brazilian Woman with iPhones Glued to Her Body
Bus Driver Discovers Toddler Hidden in Suitcase in New Zealand
Switzerland Celebrates 734 Years of Independence Amid Global Changes
U.S. Opens Official Investigation into Former Trump Prosecutor Jack Smith
Leaked audio of Canada's new PM Mark Carney admitting the truth about the Net Zero agenda: "We're gonna make a lot of money off of this."
China Enforces Comprehensive Ban on Cryptocurrency Activities
Absolutely 100% Realistic EVO Series Doll by EXDOLL (Chinese Company) used mainly for carnal purposes
World Economic Forum founder Klaus Schwab: "In this new world, we must accept... total transparency. You have to get used to it. You have to behave accordingly. But if you have nothing to hide, you shouldn't be afraid."
Meet Mufti Hamid Patel, head of Office for Standards in Education in Pakistan
George Soros tells the World Economic Forum: "President Trump is a con man and the ultimate narcissist, who wants the world to revolve around him."
Hamas are STARVING the hostages.
Decline in Tourism in Majorca Amidst Ongoing Anti-Tourism Protests
British Tourist Dies Following Hair Transplant in Turkey, Police Investigate
Poland Begins Excavation at Dziemiany After New Clue to World War II‑Era Nazi Treasure
WhatsApp Users Targeted in New Scam Involving Account Takeovers
Trump Threatens Canada with Tariffs Over Palestinian State Recognition
Trump Deploys Nuclear Submarines After Threats from Former Russian President Medvedev
Trump Sues Murdoch in “Heavyweight Bout”: Lawsuit Over Alleged Epstein Letter Sets Stage for Courtroom Showdown
Germany Enters Fiscal Crisis as Cabinet Approves €174 Billion in New Debt
Trump Administration Finalizes Broad Tariff Increases on Global Trade Partners
J.K. Rowling Limits Public Engagements Citing Safety Fears
JD.com Launches €2.2 Billion Bid for German Electronics Retailer Ceconomy
Azerbaijan Proceeds with Plan to Legalise Casinos on Artificial Islands
Former Judge Charged After Drunk Driving Crash Kills Comedian in Brazil
Jeff Bezos hasn’t paid a dollar in taxes for decades. He makes billions and pays $0 in taxes, LEGALLY
China Increases Use of Exit Bans Amid Rising U.S. Tensions
IMF Upgrades Global Growth Forecast as Weaker Dollar Supports Outlook
Procter & Gamble to Raise U.S. Prices to Offset One‑Billion‑Dollar Tariff Cost
House Republicans Move to Defund OECD Over Global Tax Dispute
Botswana Seeks Controlling Stake in De Beers as Anglo American Prepares Exit
Trump Administration Proposes Repeal of Obama‑Era Endangerment Finding, Dismantling Regulatory Basis for CO₂ Emissions Limits
France Opens Criminal Investigation into X Over Algorithm Manipulation Allegations
A family has been arrested in the UK for displaying the British flag
Mel Gibson refuses to work with Robert De Niro, saying, "Keep that woke clown away from me."
×