Odd Radio Circles Are glowing Around Some Galaxies. Now We Know Why

Short Wave

NPR

Daily News, Nature, Life Sciences, Astronomy, Science, News

4.7 • 6K Ratings

🗓️ 12 January 2024

⏱️ 11 minutes

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Summary

Since they were discovered in 2019, strange, glowing circles of light in space have mystified researchers. Now called odd radio circles, or ORCs, these rings of light sit in the radio portion of the electromagnetic spectrum. They pulse out of the centers of some galaxies – and until now, no one knew why.

In this episode, host Regina G. Barber talks to Alison Coil, a professor of astronomy and astrophysics at University of California San Diego, about her latest research. They break down what ORCs are, where they come from and what they might reveal about how galaxies evolve over billions of years.

Wondering about other happenings across the universe? Email us at [email protected] – we'd love to hear about it!

Transcript

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0:00.0	You're listening to Shortwave from NPR.
0:05.0	Hey Shortwaavers, Regina Barber here and this time I've got Jeff Brumville. Hey Jeff.
0:10.0	Hi there.
0:11.0	And Jeff for our regular roundup of Science News, Mary Louise Kelly is joining us.
0:16.3	Hello, hello. Glad to be with you too.
0:18.9	Mary Louise, as always we're going to share three science stories in the news that have caught our attention recently.
0:24.0	We've got a moon mission gone awry.
0:26.0	Tracking fishing across the world's oceans with AI.
0:29.0	I love your rhyming.
0:31.0	And mysterious radio circles that had astronomers baffled.
0:34.6	Just drop the ball at the end there, do you?
0:36.8	All of that on this episode of Shortwave, the Science Podcast from NPR. This message comes from NPR sponsor SAP Concur.
0:56.7	Global Head of Sales Ryan Demeray shares how SAP Concur Solutions can help solve specific problems and support long-term growth.
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	...

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