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Day Thread of Quasars: Book I (10/22)

gillien

The caption attached to the High Energy Astronomy Observatory’s header image of Quasar 3C 273 says that:

Quasars are mysterious, bright, star-like objects apparently located at the very edge of the visible universe. Although no bigger than our solar system, they radiate as much visible light as a thousand galaxies.

3C 273 was the first quasar identified, initially as radio source which was matched to a visible unresolved stellar object. Billions of light-years distant, it is the brightest quasar in the sky and can be viewed through a modest telescope.

This image from Hubble’s Wide Field and Planetary Camera 2 (WFPC2) is likely the best of ancient and brilliant quasar 3C 273, which resides in a giant elliptical galaxy in the constellation of Virgo (The Virgin). Its light has taken some 2.5 billion years to reach us. Despite this great distance, it is still one of the closest quasars to our home. It was the first quasar ever to be identified, and was discovered in the early 1960s by astronomer Allan Sandage. [credit: Hubble ESA]

The name ‘quasar’ derives from ‘quasi-stellar radio source’ as they are not stars but rather active galactic nuclei that emit tremendous amounts of energy, including but not limited to visible light. These emissions are powered by Supermassive Black Holes, which–

–Sorry, there’s a local group of vampires who like to play baseball in a park behind my house, and they’re really loud. The neighborhood association has asked them to find someplace more remote, and, well never mind, all very off topic. Havta run and deal with this, but the Quasars day thread will be continued!

Have a good Tuesday 🌌

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