The discovery of a "mysterious" ring of fire outside our galaxy... and scientists explain the secret of its existence
An international team of scientists led by researchers from Western Sydney University in Australia has discovered a mysterious circular object resembling a ring of fire near our galaxy (the Milky Way), in a precedent that may be the first of its kind in the history of astronomy.
mysterious circles
According to the study, published in Monthly Notices, the researchers used ASKAP or the Australian Pathfinder Square Kilometer Array to reach these results.
ESCAP is a radio telescope located in the western part of Australia, and it consists of 36 antennas, each with a diameter of 12 meters, which together represent one huge antenna with an area of 4,000 square meters. Its construction began in late 2009 and became operational in 2012.
ESCAP was able to observe this mysterious ring outside our galaxy, next to what is known as the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC), a galaxy belonging to the Milky Way, located at a distance of 160,000 light years from us.
The Ring of Fire is located next to the Large Magellanic Cloud, which is a satellite galaxy of the Milky Way (Western Sydney University)
According to an official statement issued by the University of Western Sydney, the research team was astonished by the presence of a celestial body in this shape outside the galaxy, and at first they thought that it was a “strange radio circuit,” and radio circuits are incomprehensible spherical radio objects discovered in 2019, and it is believed that they stem from Galaxies.
But after further examination, scientists found that this mysterious ring may be the remains of a star that exploded about 2200-7100 years ago, creating a massive supernova whose remnants of its explosion are still expanding until now, in light of the study’s estimate.
rogue supernova
This means, according to the research team, that this is the first time that a supernova has been detected outside the Milky Way, which is why they called this ring of fire "rogue." It is as if the star that caused it has gone out of obedience to the mother galaxy.
According to the new study, the “rogue” star emerged from the Large Magellanic Cloud millions of years ago, and had a companion star orbiting around it, one of which was in the red giant phase, and the second was in the white dwarf phase. Because the second one has such a strong gravitational pull, it pulled the red giant's material very quickly.
The Ascap Observatory in Western Australia consists of 36 plates (Wikipedia)
As the material of the red giant accumulates on its dwarf companion quickly and forcefully, rapid and sudden nuclear reactions occur on the surface of the white dwarf, and at some point it explodes, creating the so-called “supernova Ia.”
Because of this strange condition, researchers from this team hope to proceed with more in-depth and extensive studies to confirm the nature of the rogue supernova, which will be useful in developing scientists' understanding of this type of object.
Source: Al Jazeera - translations
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