January 19, 2021

A portion of the radio map of the sky in the MIGHTEE survey with the two giant radio galaxies in the insets

An article published in the journal “Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society” reports the discovery of two giant radio galaxies in a small portion of the sky, a discovery in theory very unlikely. A team of researchers led by Jacinta Delhaize of the University of Cape Town, South Africa, used data collected during the MIGHTEE survey conducted with the MeerKAT radio telescope. Giant radio galaxies are considered very rare, but are perhaps much more common than expected, a possibility that could have an impact on studying the formation and evolution of galaxies.