Helps in understanding the mysterious cosmic phenomenon, taking the clearest picture of radio circuits

Astronomers were able to obtain the most clear picture of a strange and rare type of cosmic phenomenon discovered a few years ago, several times the size of our galaxy, and scientists are still searching for an explanation for its mysterious nature.

The new detailed image was taken by researchers from the University of Western Sydney, Australia, with the MeerKAT radio telescope of the South African Astronomy Observatory. It is expected to provide researchers with more information to help understand the nature of these objects and how they originated.

The researchers published a study on this scientific achievement in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, available on Arxiv.

Space "jellyfish"

In this new image, which is the best captured so far of the mysterious space phenomenon, the "orb" looks like a jellyfish swimming in the vast cosmic ocean, its colors range from green to blue interspersed with transparent areas.

Dubbed Odd Radio Circles, these cosmic phenomena were first discovered in 2019 by astronomer Anna Kabinska, who was studying space survey data from the Australian Research Service's Australian Radio Telescope (CSIRO).

According to a press release published on the authority's website, it was named by this name because of its circular shape and its bright radio-wave bodies, and it is not possible to see it using optical, infrared or X-ray telescopes. These radio circuits are about a million light-years in diameter, which is 10 times the diameter of our galaxy, and it takes about a billion years to reach this size.

“We know that individual radio circuits are rings of faint radio emissions that surround a galaxy with a very active black hole at its centre, but we don't even know Now what causes it, and why is it so rare?

How did these giant circles form?

Despite its enormous size, this phenomenon - which is difficult to monitor and only 5 circles have been discovered so far - still retains all its secrets and scientists know little about it. Therefore, there have been many theories that scholars have offered about her true identity, and there are now 3 main theories:

In the first theory , some scientists believe that the radio circuits could be the remnants of a massive explosion at the center of the host galaxy, such as the one that occurs after the merger of two supermassive black holes.

In the second theory, others believe that they are powerful jets of energetic particles that are ejected from the center of the galaxy, while others believe that they were formed as a result of a shock wave that occurred during the explosion of a star in the galaxy.

The third theory goes to say that the circles represent the open throats of wormholes, which are imaginary passages that exist inside black holes that shorten the movement in space-time according to the general theory of relativity.

But Norris and his colleagues suggest that the circles were created by "starbursts emanating from the centers of galaxies, but we still don't know what causes the explosions," says the Australian researcher.

Continuous search

According to the researchers, the research must continue to unravel the mystery of this puzzling phenomenon and find more of these circles throughout the universe around us, in addition to studying them at other wavelengths in which this phenomenon was not visible until now.

For this mission, scientists will need to use more sensitive radio telescopes such as those that will be available at the giant "Square Kilometer Array" observatory, which is expected to be operational in 2027, and is supported by more than a dozen countries including the United Kingdom, Australia and South Africa. France, Canada, China and India.