March 25, 2022

ORC1 seen by MeerKAT and in the background optical data from the Dark Energy Survey (Image J. English (U. Manitoba)/EMU/MeerKAT/DES(CTIO))

An article published in the journal “Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society” reports a study based on a new image of a so-called odd radio circle (ORC). A team of researchers used the MeerKAT radio telescope to observe this structure with a diameter of over one million light-years visible only at radio waves. Each new observation of this type of phenomenon offers new information, as only five of them are known at the moment. The information collected with MeerKAT could help verify the theories that were proposed and reach a reasonably certain explanation for its origin and nature.