Strangely sharp circles of radio waves in space have puzzled astronomers since their surprise discovery in 2019. Now, a team has analyzed one closely in hopes that it might give up its secrets.

Firing up a new observatory brings the possibility of discovering brand-new phenomena out in space that our technology has not been able to see before.

That's precisely what happened in 2019, when the first pilot survey of CSIRO's ASKAP radio telescope spotted several odd radio circles . They were named, in classic astronomer fashion, " odd radio circles " (ORCs).

These huge, bright, eerily circular structures are clearly visible in radio wavelengths but are invisible in optical, infrared, or X-ray wavelengths. Only about 10 candidates are known so far, and their origin remains unexplaine

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