Igniting Unrivaled Brilliance: Astronomers Solve 60-Year Mystery of Quasars – The Most Powerful Objects in the Universe
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Loading... - Adriana Agacia
- 26 Apr 2023
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Scientists have unlocked one of the biggest mysteries of quasars – the brightest, most powerful objects in the Universe – by discovering that they are ignited by galaxies colliding.
- -First discovered 60 years ago, quasars can shine as brightly as a trillion stars packed into a volume the size of our Solar System, but until now it has remained a mystery what could trigger such powerful activity
- -By observing 48 galaxies that host quasars and comparing them to over 100 non-quasar galaxies, scientists discovered that the phenomenon is ignited by galaxies colliding
- -When two galaxies collide, gravitational forces push huge amounts of gas toward supermassive black holes at the center of the remnant galaxy system that results from the collision – just before the gas is consumed by the black hole, it releases extraordinary amounts of energy in the form of radiation, resulting in a quasar
- -The Milky Way is likely to experience its own quasar when it collides with the Andromeda galaxy in roughly five billion years’ time
First discovered 60 years ago, quasars can shine as brightly as a trillion stars packed into a volume the size of our Solar System. In the decades since they were first observed, it has remained a mystery what could trigger such powerful activity. New work led by scientists at the Universities of Sheffield and Hertfordshire has now revealed that it is a consequence of galaxies crashing together. Read More..
