Odd radio circle in space may be supermassive black hole merger

By Jason Arunn Murugesu

Astronomers have found a mysterious circle of radio waves, the fifth Odd Radio Circle (ORC) ever detected, but its cause is still unclear. It could be simply the side view of a galaxy with an active black hole at its centre, or possibly the result of a supermassive black hole merger.

In 2020, Ray Norris at Western Sydney University, Australia, and his colleagues found four strange circles made from radio waves in space. No one had seen these objects before, and the team had a few guesses …