Starship Asterisk*

Animation: Odd Radio Circles

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.

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I wanted to bump this forward as it was posted late last night in yesterday’s APOD…

Re: APOD: Venus and Mars: Passing in the Night (2022 Mar 29)

rwlott wrote: ↑Tue Mar 29, 2022 9:44 pm Several of you have asked about Neuffer. Sadly, I have this to share. It was posted by his son in the Shakespeare Google Group earlier this month on March 4:

Hi all,

I wanted to let you know that my dad Art Neuendorffer died peacefully this afternoon after his health quickly deteriorated last week.
His passion for Shakespeare, et cetera, filled much of his time in retirement and he greatly appreciated this group. Whether you found his ideas intriguing or bizarre, you formed a good part of what I think of as my dad's own little secret society. Please pass the news in other groups that have appreciated his wit, puzzling, and reflections.

Rest assured that although his BONES will remain here, he will EVER live in our memory. Of course, his actual resting place will only be found by heroically solving a sequence of increasingly challenging hidden puzzles, navigating ingeniously laid traps, and perhaps outwitting a conspiracy or two along the way!

The heavens themselves blaze forth the death of princes.

Stephen Neuendorffer

Just terribly sad news.

Eric George

I'm shocked, and I can hardly believe it.

None of the rest of us regulars in this forum seemed so "alive" as Neufer. He had a fantastically nimble and quirky mind, bursting with inspiration and ideas, and he had a great general knowledge of many scholarly and scientific fields as well.

Neufer's posts at Starship Asterisk* were unique. Sometimes his posts were just confusing, at least to me, but often they shed surprising light on the topics that we were discussing. Or, more often, they shed light on things that could be associated with the topic that we were discussing. A beautiful example is one of the last posts he made here, which was inspired by our discussion of the yellow and blue binary star Albireo, Beta Cygni:

http://asterisk.apod.com/viewtopic.php?p=320916#p320916

It was Art, and his quickly roaming mind, who saw Albireo in the sky as a counterpart to the Ukrainian flag, and as a symbol of the Ukrainian people and their fight for independence.

Thank you, Art, for what you and your posts did for Starship Asterisk*. You were the one who connected the dots between heaven and Earth. You were unique, and you are irreplaceable.

My condolences to Neufer's family.

Ann

Condolences and prayers.

I agree with everything Ann said in her post above. There were so many times I learned something unexpected from Art's posts. And they so often made me smile. I did not know Art personally but I've been coming to this site every day for so long that it almost feels like losing a family member. I will really miss his presence here.

My condolences to his family and friends.

Don

Yes, so sad about Neufer. I'd LOVE to hear what he'd have to say about "Odd Radio Circles"! Perhaps something about crop circles, or "circles of confusion" (a real thing!), or...who knows what!

DonB312 wrote: ↑Wed Mar 30, 2022 5:44 pm I agree with everything Ann said in her post above. There were so many times I learned something unexpected from Art's posts. And they so often made me smile. I did not know Art personally but I've been coming to this site every day for so long that it almost feels like losing a family member. I will really miss his presence here.

My condolences to his family and friends.

Don

Very well said. I felt the same way.

To be or not to be is not a question. I will never forget Neufers posts. Unique and irreplaceable.
I will really miss his presence here!

My condolences to his family and friends.
Jac

Though I rarely post, I've always been fond of Mr. Neufer's posts. Always informative, interesting and entertaining. He will be missed.