Quasar is ... What is a quasar?

At a distance of 2 billion light years from our house is the most powerful and deadly object in our entire universe. Quasar is a dazzling ray of energy, the length of which is several billion kilometers. Scientists can not fully explore this object.

What is a quasar?

Today, astronomers around the world are trying to study quasars, their origin and the principle of action. Numerous studies prove that a quasar is a huge, infinitely moving cauldron of deadly gas. The most powerful source of energy of the object is inside, in the heart of the quasar. It's a huge black hole. Quasar weighs as much as billions of suns weigh.

Quasar absorbs everything that comes in his way. A black hole breaks entire stars and galaxies, sucking them inside themselves until they completely erase and dissolve in it. To date, the quasar is the worst thing that can ever be in the universe.

Objects of distant space

Quasars are the most distant and bright objects in the Universe studied by mankind. In the 60s of the last century, scientists considered them radio stars, because they were discovered with the help of the strongest source of radio waves. The term "quasar" came from the phrase "quasi-stellar radio source". You can also find the name QSOs in the numerous works of scientists about outer space. The field of how the power of optical radio telescopes has become much larger, astronomers have discovered that a quasar is not a star, but a star-shaped object unknown to science.

It is assumed that the radio emission does not come from the quasar itself, but from the rays with which it is surrounded. Quasars are still one of the most mysterious objects that are located far beyond the Galaxy. To date, few people can talk about quasars. What this is and how these heavenly bodies are arranged , only the most experienced astronomers and scientists will be able to answer. The only thing that is definitely proven is that quasars emit a tremendous amount of energy. It is equal to that which is allocated 3 million suns! Some quasars emit 100 times more energy than all the stars of our Galaxy. It is interesting that all of the above quasar produces at a site approximately equal to the solar system.

Radiation and the magnitude of quasars

Traces of previous galaxies were discovered around quasars. They were recognized as objects with a red shift, which have electromagnetic radiation along with radio waves and invisible light, and having very small angular dimensions. These factors before the discovery of quasars did not make it possible to distinguish their stars - point sources. On the contrary, extended sources correspond more closely to the shape of galaxies. For comparison: the average of the brightest quasar is 12.6, and the brightest quasar is 1.45.

Where are the mysterious celestial objects

Black holes, pulsars and quasars are far enough away from us. They are the most distant celestial bodies in the universe. Quasars have the largest infrared radiation. By spectral analysis, astronomers have the ability to determine the speed of motion of various objects, the distance between them and up to them from the Earth.

If the radiation of the quasar blushes, then it moves in the direction from the Earth. The more redness - the farther away from us the quasar and its speed increases. All kinds of quasars move at very high speeds, which, in turn, endlessly change. It is proved that the speed of the movement of quasars reaches 240 thousand km / s, which is almost 80% of the speed of light!

We will not see modern quasars

Since these are the most distant objects from us, today we observe their movements that took place billions of years ago. Because the light only managed to reach our Earth. Most likely, the most distant, and therefore the most ancient are the quasars. The cosmos allows us to see them as they appeared about 10 billion years ago. It can be assumed that some of them have already ceased to exist today.

What are quasars

Although this phenomenon is studied and not enough, but, according to preliminary data, a quasar is a huge black hole. Its matter accelerates its motion when the hole funnel tightens matter, which leads to the heating of these particles, their friction against each other and the endless movement of the total mass of matter. The speed of quasar molecules becomes more and more every second, and the temperature is higher. Strong friction of the particles causes the allocation of a huge amount of light and other types of radiation, for example, such as X-rays. Every year black holes can absorb a mass equal to one of our Sun. As soon as the mass is absorbed into the deadly funnel, the allocated energy will be radiated in two directions: along the southern and northern poles of the quasar. Astronomers call this unusual phenomenon a "space plane".

Recent observations by astronomers show that, in the main, these celestial objects are in the center of elliptical galaxies. According to one of the theories of the origin of quasars, they represent a young galaxy in which a massive black hole absorbs the surrounding matter. The founders of the theory say that the source of radiation is the accretion disk of this hole. It is located in the center of the galaxy, and from this it follows that the red spectral shift of quasars is more cosmological than the gravitational displacement. This was previously predicted by Einstein in his general theory of relativity.

Quasars are often compared to the beacons of the universe. They are seen from the farthest distances, thanks to them they study its evolution and structure. With the help of the "heavenly beacon", the distribution of any substance on the line of sight is studied. Namely: the strongest spectral absorption lines of hydrogen are transformed in the line by the red shift of absorption.

Versions of scientists about quasars

There is another scheme. Quasar, according to some scholars, is an emerging young galaxy. The evolution of galaxies has been little studied, since mankind is much younger than they. Perhaps quasars are an early state of galaxy formation. It can be assumed that the release of their energy comes from the youngest nuclei of active new galaxies.

Other astronomers and do consider quasars to be points of space in which the new matter of the Universe originates. Their hypothesis proves the exact opposite of a black hole. Humanity will need a lot of time to study the stigmata of quasars.

Known quasars

The first of the discovered quasars was discovered by Matthews and Sandij in 1960. It was located in the constellation of the Virgin. Most likely, it is associated with the 16 stars of this constellation. After three years Mathews noticed that this object has a huge red spectral shift. The only proving factor that this is not a star, is its allocation of a large amount of energy in a relatively small area of space.

Observations of mankind

The history of quasars began with the study and measurement of the visible angular dimensions of radioactive sources under a special program.

In 1963, the quasars already numbered about 5. In the same year, Dutch astronomers proved the spectral shift of the lines to the red spectrum. They proved that this is due to the cosmological displacement as a result of their removal, so the distance could be calculated according to Hubble's law. Almost immediately two more scientists Yu. Efremov and A. Sharov discovered the variability of the brightness of the discovered quasars. Thanks to photometric images, they found that the variability has a periodicity of only a few days.

One of the closest to us quasars (3C 273) has a red shift and a glitter corresponding to a distance of about 3 milliards. Light years. The most distant celestial objects are hundreds of times greater than the glow of ordinary galaxies. They are easy to register with modern radio telescopes at a distance of 12 billion light years or more. Recently, a new quasar was recorded at a distance of 13.5 billion light years from Earth.

It is difficult to accurately calculate how many quasars have been found to date. This happens both because of the constant discovery of new objects, and because of the lack of a clear boundary between active galaxies and quasars. In 1987, the list of registered quasars was published in the amount of 3594, in 2005 there were more than 195 thousand, and today their number exceeded 200 thousand.

Initially, the term "quasar" denoted a certain class of objects, which in the visible (optical) range are very similar to a star. But they have a number of differences: the strongest radio emission and small angular dimensions (<10 ⁰ ).

Such an initial view of these bodies developed during their discoveries. And it is true now, but still scientists have recognized and radio-quiet quasars. They do not create such a strong radiation. As of 2015, such objects registered about 90% of all known.

Today, stigmata of quasars are determined by the red shift of the spectrum. If a body with a similar displacement and a powerful energy flow is found in space, then it has all the chances of carrying the name "quasar".

Conclusion

To date, astronomers have about two thousand such celestial bodies. The main tool for studying quasars is the Hubble Space Telescope. Since the technological progress of mankind can not fail to please with its successes, it can be assumed that in the future we will solve the riddle about what a quasar and black hole are. Perhaps they are a kind of "garbage box" that absorbs all unnecessary objects, and maybe they are the centers and energy of the universe.