Posted on 12/02/2020 6:05:46 PM PST by BenLurkin
We dubbed them ORCs, which stands for "odd radio circles." But the big question, of course, is: "what are they?"
At first we suspected an imaging artifact, perhaps generated by a software error. But we soon confirmed they are real, using other radio telescopes. We still have no idea how big or far away they are. They could be objects in our galaxy, perhaps a few light-years across, or they could be far away in the Universe and maybe millions of light years across.
When we look in images taken with optical telescopes at the position of ORCs, we see nothing. The rings of radio emission are probably caused by clouds of electrons, but why don't we see anything in visible wavelengths of light? We don't know, but finding a puzzle like this is the dream of every astronomer.
Could they be supernova remnants, the clouds of debris left behind when a star in our galaxy explodes? No. They are far from most of the stars in the Milky Way and there are too many of them.
Could they be the rings of radio emission sometimes seen in galaxies undergoing intense bursts of star formation? Again, no. We don't see any underlying galaxy that would be hosting the star formation.
Could they be the giant lobes of radio emission we see in radio galaxies, caused by jets of electrons squirting out from the environs of a supermassive black hole? Not likely, because the ORCs are very distinctly circular, unlike the tangled clouds we see in radio galaxies.
Could they be Einstein rings, in which radio waves from a distant galaxy are being bent into a circle by the gravitational field of a cluster of galaxies? Still no. ORCs are too symmetrical, and we don't see a cluster at their center.
(Excerpt) Read more at phys.org ...
Well, I know that in my case it was cataracts...
Reminds me of the ring of Uranus.
Ghost circles in the sky are
Lasso’s.
of Ghost riders in the sky.
This is pretty cool - not as funny as astronomers discovering rings around Uranus, but still interesting.
Video killed the radio ghost.
Or them discovering that Uranus emits gas...
An old cowpoke went ridin’ out one dark and windy day
Upon a ridge he rested as he rode along his way
When all at once a mighty herd of red eyed cows he saw
Plowing through the ragged skies and up a cloudy draw
Yipie I ay, yipie I oh
Ghost turned in the sky
Their horns were black and shiny and their hooks are made of steel
Their brands were still on fire and their hot breath he could feel
A bolt of fear shot through him as they thundered through the sky
He saw the circles coming hard and he heard their mournful cry
Yipie I ay, yipie I oh
Ghost circles in the sky
Their face is gaunt their eyes were blurred their shirts all soaked with sweat
They’re ridin’ hard to catch that herd but they ain’t caught ‘em yet
‘Cause they’ve got to ride forever on the range up in the sky
On horses snorting fire as they ride on hear them cry
Yipie I ay, yipie I oh
Ghost circles in the sky
As the circles looked on by him he heard one call his name
If you want to save your soul from hell a riding on our range
Then cow-boy change your ways today or with us you will ride
Tryin’ to catch the Devils herd, across these endless skies
Yipie I ay, yipie I oh
Ghost circles in the sky
Yipie I ay, yipie I oh
Ghost circles in the sky
“At first we suspected an imaging artifact, perhaps generated by a software error.”
So they suspected a “glitch”? Then they found there was no “glitch” and the software was operating just fine.
Where have I heard this before?
If only there was a huge radio telescope that could be used to study these ORCs, maybe carved out of a natural bowl on a mountain.
“There will be signs in the heavens . . .”
Thanks to an other FReeper (forgot who) for turning me on to this superb cover of same: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jiJdGsI7zro
In before “Science says ...”
Remnants of a long ago battle of two or more fleets of Death Stars in their own Battle of Midway.
The galactic version of Iron Bottom Sound.
I love that song. Every version I’ve ever heard, too.
And after close inspection, they found 453,987 votes for Biden in one of the circles.
Ben. Thanks for posting.
Looks something like diffuse intersteller ball lighting. Maybe high energy particles pass through a diffuse ball of interstellar gas. Either the particles or radiation are frequent enough to cause it to excite the gas and it glows, or they set off a cascade (Gamma radiation) that causes “current” to start flowing in the ball. This presumes no nearby star or gravitational field that attracts and disturbs the “Bubble.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qPkupFNev50
Smoke rings from the cigars of REALLY REALLY big aliens. :-)
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