Astronomers Find Most Distant Odd Radio Circle 7B Light-Years Away
The Facts
- Citizen scientists have discovered the most distant and powerful "odd radio circle" (ORC) known to date, designated RAD J131346.9+500320, located approximately 7 billion light-years from Earth at a redshift of 0.94, when the universe was half its current age.
- The newly discovered odd radio circle features two intersecting rings spanning 978,000 light-years across, making it only the second known example with this double-ring configuration among the eight ORCs positively identified in the universe.
- Odd radio circles are enormous structures made of magnetized plasma that can reach 10 to 20 times the size of the Milky Way galaxy, visible only through radio telescopes and detectable across radio wavelengths but invisible at optical frequencies.
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The Spin
Narrative A
Citizen scientists are revolutionizing astronomy by discovering the most powerful odd radio circle ever found. This breakthrough collaboration proves that human pattern recognition remains essential even in the machine-learning age. The discovery of this ancient cosmic fossil reveals how supermassive black holes shaped galaxies billions of years ago.
Narrative B
While odd radio circles are fascinating cosmic mysteries, they remain largely elusive, with only a dozen known examples after six years of searching. These incredibly faint structures are so rare that training AI to spot them is nearly impossible. The discovery raises more questions than answers about galaxy evolution.
Metaculus Prediction
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