Astronomers have discovered a staggering clutch of 15 new Giant Radio Galaxies within the "Sculptor Field" view of Australia's Square Kilometer Array Pathfinder (ASKAP) telescope. This is a big deal because Giant Radio Galaxies are the largest single objects in the known universe, each wider than 2.3 million light-years across.
These new examples range in size from 3.7 million light-years to a staggering 12.4 million light-years wide. For context, the Milky Way is around 105,700 light years wide. That means our galaxy would fit across the largest of these new Giant Radio Galaxies, designated ASKAP J0107–2347, over 117 times.
ASKAP J0107–2347, located around 1.5 billion light-years away, is also remarkable because it features two sets of radio lobes, one inside the other. The inner lobes are bright and short, while the outer lobes are faint and elongated. This nesting doll-like structure could hint at how Giant Radio Galaxies get so big.
