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Quasars
Compiled by Dr. John Simonetti of the Department of Physics at Virginia Tech.
Back to Frequently Asked Astronomy and Physics Questions
11. Are the radio waves from objects in space any threat to us?
14. How are BL Lac objects formed compared to the way a quasar is formed?
This is best answered with history. When radio telescopes were first turned on the heavens, point sources of radio
waves were discovered (along with spread-out regions of emission along our Milky Way). Astronomers using
ordinary visible-light telescopes turned toward these radio points and looked to see what was there. In some cases
a supernova remnant was found, in others, a large star-birth region, in others a distant galaxy. But in some places
where point sources of radio waves were found, no visible source other than a stellar-looking object was found (it
looked like a point of like --- like a star does). These objects were called the "qausi-stellar radio sources", or
"quasars" for short. Later, it was found these sources could not be stars in our galaxy, but must be very far away ---
as far as any of the distant galaxies seen. We now think these objects are the very bright centers of some distant
galaxies, where some sort of energetic action is occurring, most probably due to the presence of a supermassive
black hole at the center of that galaxy (supermassive = made up from a mass of about a billion solar masses).
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See the above answer. It is thought the infall of matter into the supermassive black hole can result in very hot regions
where huge energies are released, powering the quasar (i.e., producing the emitted light, etc.).
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See the above. But it's thought the process begins as gas collects near the center of a galaxy.
How are BL Lac objects formed compared to the way a quasar is formed?
No real big difference. There are some "minor" differences having to do with time scales of intensity variation, and
the presence or absence of certain features in the spectra of these objects.
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