At a distance of 2 billion light-years from our home is the most powerful and deadly object in our entire Universe. A quasar is a dazzling ray of energy, the length of which is several billion kilometers. Scientists cannot fully study this object.
What is a quasar
Today, astronomers around the world are trying to study quasars, their origin and principle of action. Numerous studies prove that a quasar is a huge, endlessly moving boiler of deadly gas. The most powerful source of energy of the object is located inside, in the heart of the quasar. This is a huge black hole. A quasar weighs as much as billions of suns.
A quasar absorbs everything that comes in its way. A black hole breaks entire stars and galaxies, sucking them inward until they completely erase and dissolve in it. To date, a quasar is the worst that can only be in the universe.
Deep space objects
Quasars are the most distant and brightest objects in the Universe studied by mankind. In the 60s of the last century, scientists considered them radio stars, because they were discovered using the strongest source of radio waves. The term "quasar" comes from the phrase "quasistellar radio source." You can also find the name QSOs in numerous works of scientists about space. The field as the power of optical radio telescopes became much larger, astronomers discovered that the 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. Today, few can tell about quasars. What is it and how these celestial bodies are arranged , only the most experienced astronomers and scientists can answer. The only thing that has been proven accurately is that quasars emit a tremendous amount of energy. It is equal to that which 3 million suns emit! Some quasars emit 100 times more energy than all the stars of our galaxy taken together. Interestingly, all of the above quasar produces on a site approximately equal to the solar system.
Radiation and quasar magnitude
Traces of previous galaxies were discovered around quasars. They were recognized as objects with redshift, which have electromagnetic radiation along with radio waves and invisible light, and have 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 more likely correspond to the shape of galaxies. For comparison: the average coefficient of the brightest quasar is 12.6, and the brightest star is 1.45.
Where are the mysterious celestial objects
Black holes, pulsars and quasars are quite far from us. They are the most distant celestial bodies in the universe. Quasars have the largest infrared radiation. By spectral analysis, astronomers are able to determine the speed of various objects, the distance between them and to them from the Earth.
If the radiation of the quasar turns red, it means that it moves in the direction from the Earth. The more redness is, the farther the quasar is from us and its speed increases. All types of quasars move at very high speeds, which, in turn, change endlessly. It is proved that the speed of movement of quasars reaches the mark of 240 thousand km / s, and this 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 are observing their movements that took place billions of years ago. Because the light only managed to get to our Earth. Most likely, the most distant, and therefore the most ancient, are quasars. Space 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 has not been studied enough, according to preliminary data, a quasar is a huge black hole. Its matter accelerates its motion when the funnel of a hole drags matter, which leads to 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 all higher. Strong friction of the particles leads to the release of a huge amount of light and other types of radiation, such as x-rays. Every year, black holes can absorb a mass equal to one of our Sun. As soon as the mass drawn into the death funnel is absorbed, the released energy will spread by radiation in two directions: along the south and north poles of the quasar. Astronomers call this unusual phenomenon "space plane."
Recent observations by astronomers show that basically these celestial objects are in the center of elliptical galaxies. According to one of the theories of the origin of quasars, they are a young galaxy in which a massive black hole absorbs its surrounding matter. The founders of the theory say that the accretion disk of this hole acts as a source of radiation. It is located in the center of the galaxy, and it follows from this that the red spectral shift of the quasars is more cosmological than the gravitational shift. This was previously predicted by Einstein in his general theory of relativity.
Quasars are often compared with the beacons of the universe. They can be seen from the farthest distances, thanks to them they study its evolution and structure. With the help of a “heavenly beacon”, the distribution of any substance on the line of sight is studied. Namely: the strongest hydrogen absorption spectral lines are transformed into lines by the redshift of absorption.
Versions of scientists about quasars
There is another scheme. A quasar, according to some scientists, is an emerging young galaxy. The evolution of galaxies has been little studied, since humanity is much younger than them. Quasars may be 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 even 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.
Famous quasars
The first quasar discovered was discovered by Matthews and Sandwich in 1960. It was located in the constellation Virgo. Most likely, it is associated with 16 stars of this constellation. After three years, Matthews noticed that this object has a huge redshift. The only evidence that this is not a star was its release of a large amount of energy in a relatively small area of space.
Human observations
The history of quasars began with the study and measurement of the apparent angular dimensions of radioactive sources according to a special program.
In 1963, there were already about 5 quasars. In the same year, Dutch astronomers proved the spectral shift of lines to the red spectrum. They proved that this is due to cosmological displacement as a result of their removal, so the distance could be calculated according to the Hubble law. Almost immediately, two more scientists Yu. Efremov and A. Sharov discovered the brightness of the detected quasars. Thanks to photometric images, they found that the variability has a frequency of only a few days.
One of the quasars closest to us (3C 273) has a redshift and brilliance corresponding to a distance of about 3 milliliters. 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 has been recorded at a distance of 13.5 billion light years from Earth.
It is difficult to accurately calculate how many quasars are found to date. This happens both due to the constant discoveries of new objects, and due to the lack of a clear boundary between active galaxies and quasars. In 1987, a list of registered quasars was published in the amount of 3594, in 2005 there were more than 195 thousand, and today their number has exceeded 200 thousand.
Initially, the term “quasar” denoted a certain class of objects that 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 idea of these bodies developed at the time of their discoveries. And it is true now, but nevertheless, scientists have recognized radio quasars as well. They do not produce such strong radiation. As of 2015, about 90% of all known objects are registered.
Today, the stigmata of quasars are determined by the red movement of the spectrum. If a body is discovered in space that has a similar displacement and releases a powerful flow of energy, then it has every chance of bearing the name “quasar”.
Conclusion
Today, astronomers number about two thousand of such celestial bodies. The main tool for studying quasars is the Hubble Space Telescope. Since the technological progress of mankind cannot but rejoice 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 can" that absorbs all unnecessary objects, or maybe they are the centers and energy of the universe.