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Scientists combing radio astronomical data were stunned by the discovery of a series of ghostly circles hovering in space that did not resemble any type of known object ever discovered.
Researchers have discovered the cosmic phenomenon that is scratching your head by looking through images collected by the revolutionary Australian Square Kilometer Array Pathfinder telescope.
Because of its extraordinary ability to map large areas of space, both in record time and with great density, the revolutionary telescope can scan parts of the universe that were previously invisible.
Sifting through images from a pilot project to map millions of galaxies, scientists identified several of the mysterious spots just using the power of their eyes.
They nicknamed the phenomenon “Strange radio circles” – ORCs, for short – and set about trying to figure out what exactly they were. Initially, astronomers believed that ORCs could be caused by a software error. However, they confirmed the existence of the spots using other telescopes.
In an upcoming article on the apparitions, they go through all the possibilities and end up with the intimidating conclusion that ORCs are unlike anything else that has already been discovered.
Among the potential causes already ruled out are intense bursts of star formation in another galaxy, electron jets bursting from a supermassive black hole, and the remains of a supernova in the Milky Way.
“We need to explore things that may exist but have not yet been observed, such as a vast shock wave from an explosion in a distant galaxy,” one of the team, Professor Ray Norris, of the University of Western Sydney, wrote in an article published on the academic and research platform The Conversation.
Such explosions may have something to do with rapid radio bursts or collisions of neutron stars and black holes that generate gravitational waves.
The mystery surrounding the objects is so great that experts don’t even know how far in the universe they are.
They calculate that there are around 1000 ORCs, and now telescopes around the world are scanning the skies diligently for the bizarre spots, which is hard work because they are faint and hard to find.
“Our team is brainstorming all of these ideas and more, hoping for the eureka moment when one of us, or maybe someone else, will suddenly have the flash of inspiration that solves the puzzle,” Norris added.
“It’s an exciting time for us. Most astronomical research is aimed at refining our knowledge of the universe or testing theories. We very rarely have the challenge of stumbling across a new type of object that no one has seen before and trying to figure out what it is.
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