The "ring of fire" that lights up the universe, 7 billion light years from Earth, contains something strange!

Scientists have discovered a unique object: two overlapping rings that resemble a giant intergalactic Venn diagram. This glowing “ring of fire,” located 7 billion light-years from Earth, is one of those rare phenomena.

A groundbreaking discovery has been made, revealing the remnants of ancient cosmic violence and reinforcing the indispensable role of human observational culture in the age of Artificial Intelligence (AI). The new object, designated RAD J131346.9 500320 , is one of the Giant Radio Circles (ORCs) – ghostly, faint rings of radio light – that have puzzled scientists since they first appeared. The object, seven billion light-years away, dates back to a time when the universe was half its current age, and forms an unprecedented, overlapping double ring system.

The most remote and powerful ORC ever discovered

RAD J131346.9 500320 is not only the most distant ORC, but also the most powerful ORC ever discovered. The entire structure spans about a million light-years across, making it ten times larger than our galaxy.

This strange object forms a system of intersecting double rings, resembling a cosmic Venn diagram. Each ring in this double structure is about 300,000 light-years across and centered on a compact galaxy. The intersection of the two rings creates a unique and rare pattern.

According to the study, the radio emissions from these belts show signs of ancient synchrotron plasma, which is more characteristic of leftover radiation than of ongoing energetic activity. The discovery implies that scientists are witnessing the aftermath of an event that happened long ago. These are probably powerful shock waves or superwinds blown out from a supermassive black hole at the center of a galaxy, possibly after a cosmic merger. These winds pick up magnetized gas clouds and reenergize the old radio lobes, turning them into giant bright rings.

Machine Learning Ignores, the Power of Human Observation

What's remarkable is that this groundbreaking discovery didn't come from a machine learning algorithm, but from human dedication.

Volunteers from the RAD@home project first spotted this faint double halo in low-frequency radio data from LOFAR, the world's largest low-frequency telescope. LOFAR generates petabytes of data, and automated algorithms are often used to filter the initial information.

In this case, however, the machine learning missed and misclassified the double circle. It took a trained citizen scientist to notice the faint circular glow and report it to the professional research team. This is a powerful reminder that, no matter how advanced AI technology becomes, human intuition, subtlety, and observational eyes remain indispensable in uncovering the deepest mysteries of the universe. This discovery is a clear demonstration of the important role that the observing community plays in scientific research.

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