Overview
- A RAD@home volunteer, Pranim Limbo, identified the unusual source in LOFAR LoTSS DR2 images and the finding was publicly reported in an arXiv preprint published Tuesday, June 23, 2026.
- The object, dubbed BAARG (RAD J104501.6+352852, z = 0.159), shows a striking asymmetry with a narrow western jet feeding a sector that forms an arc about 560 kiloparsecs long and an eastern jet that bends into an S‑shape to about 250 kiloparsecs then fades into a faint tail near 600 kiloparsecs.
- Authors say the shape matches radio plasma compressed near a bow‑shock‑like front produced as the host galaxy and its circumgalactic gas move through a complex, multi‑halo cluster environment.
- The bow‑shock explanation is plausible from the LOFAR low‑frequency images but remains unconfirmed pending deeper X‑ray maps, higher‑resolution radio imaging, and optical spectroscopy to map gas, shock temperatures, and member galaxy velocities.
- The discovery highlights how sensitive low‑frequency surveys and distributed citizen science can reveal rare jet‑environment interactions and suggests LoTSS DR3 and the future SKAO could find more such systems.