Issue |
A&A
Volume 690, October 2024
|
|
---|---|---|
Article Number | A53 | |
Number of page(s) | 7 | |
Section | Stellar structure and evolution | |
DOI | https://doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361/202450766 | |
Published online | 27 September 2024 |
MeerKAT reveals a ghostly thermal radio ring towards the Galactic Centre
1
INAF – Osservatorio Astrofisico di Catania, Via Santa Sofia 78, I-95123 Catania, Italy
2
Western Sydney University, Locked Bag 1797, Penrith South DC, NSW 2751, Australia
3
National Radio Astronomy Observatory, 520 Edgemont Road, Charlottesville, VA 22903, USA
4
South African Radio Astronomy Observatory (SARAO), 2 Fir Street, Black River Park, Observatory, Cape Town 7925, South Africa
5
Joint ALMA Observatory, Alonso de Córdova 3107, Vitacura, Santiago 7630355, Chile
6
School of Mathematical and Physical Sciences, 12 Wally’s Walk, Macquarie University, NSW 2109, Australia
7
Department of Astronomy, University of Cape Town, Private Bag X3 Rondebosch 7701, South Africa
8
, CSIRO Space and Astronomy, Australia Telescope National Facility, PO Box 76 Epping, NSW 1710, Australia
9
Astronomical Observatory, Volgina 7, 11060 Belgrade, Serbia
10
Department of Astronomy, Stockholm University, The Oskar Klein Centre, AlbaNova, SE-106 91 Stockholm, Sweden
11
Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies, Astronomy & Astrophysics Section, DIAS Dunsink Observatory, Dublin D15 XR2R, Ireland
12
School of Physics, Chemistry, and Earth Sciences, The University of Adelaide, Adelaide 5005, Australia
13
ISDEFE, Beatriz de Bobadilla, 3, E-28040 Madrid, Spain
14
School of Natural Sciences, Private Bag 37, University of Tasmania, Hobart 7001, Australia
Received:
17
May
2024
Accepted:
22
July
2024
We present the serendipitous discovery of a new radio-continuum ring-like object nicknamed Kýklos (J1802–3353), with MeerKAT UHF and L-band observations. The radio ring, which resembles the recently discovered odd radio circles (ORCs), has a diameter of ∼80″ and is located just ∼6° from the Galactic plane. However, Kýklos exhibits an atypical thermal radio-continuum spectrum (α = −0.1 ± 0.3), which led us to explore different possible formation scenarios. We concluded that a circumstellar shell around an evolved massive star, possibly a Wolf-Rayet, is the most convincing explanation with the present data.
Key words: circumstellar matter / stars: winds / outflows / ISM: bubbles / radio continuum: general
© The Authors 2024
Open Access article, published by EDP Sciences, under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
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