动画：古怪的射电环

2022年3月30日

Animation: Odd Radio Circles
Credits: Illustration: Sam Moorfield; Data: CSIRO, HST (HUDF), ESA, NASA;
Image: J. English (U. Manitoba), EMU, MeerKAT, DES (CTIO); Text: Jayanne English

Explanation: What do you call a cosmic puzzle that no one expected to see? In this case, Odd Radio Circles, aka ORCs. ORC-1 typifies the enigmatic five objects, only visible at radio frequencies, that were serendipitously discovered in 2019 using the new Australian SKA Pathfinder radio array. The final image in the featured video uses 2021 data from the South African MeerKAT array to reveal more detail. The radio data, assigned turquoise colors, are combined with a Dark Energy Survey optical/IR map. The animated artist’s illustration explores just one idea about the ORCs’ origins. If two supermassive black holes merge in the center of a galaxy, the associated shockwaves could generate rings of radio radiation. These grow to fill the video frame. The video zooms out so the expansion the ORC can be tracked until it is about a million light-years across. Fortunately, the up-coming Square Kilometer Array can help test this and other promising scenarios.

Tomorrow’s picture: open space

动画：古怪的射电环
提供：图示: Sam Moorfield; 数据: CSIRO, HST (HUDF), ESA, NASA;
影像: J. English (U. Manitoba), EMU, MeerKAT, DES (CTIO); 文稿: Jayanne English

说明: 怎么称呼没人预期会见到的宇宙谜团？以2019年由澳洲平方公里探路者射电阵列意外发现，名为ORCs的5个古怪射电环为例，ORC-1是这些仅在无线电波段可见的天体之典型代表。在这部主题动画里，最后一幅带有较多细节的影像，则是建构自2021年由南非．狐獴阵列所取得的数据。这部动画整合了以绿松石色代表的射电数据，以及暗能量巡天计画的可见光/红外光巡天图。此外，这部示意动画只探索了关于这些古怪射电环的起源想法之一。所呈现的想法为：如果星系核有2颗超大质量黑洞发生合并，附属的爆震波可产生射电辐射环。在动画里，这些环扩张到填满整个影片定格，然后影片拉远，以追踪宽度扩张到大约1百万光年的这例古怪射电环。幸运的是，即将上线的平方公里阵列，可以帮忙测试上述这种及其他可能的起源剧本。 （Australian SKA Pathfinder radio array 澳洲平方公里探路者射电阵列；ORCs, Odd Radio Circles古怪射电环；South African MeerKAT array 南非狐獴阵列）

明日的图片: open space