Quasars
The most powerful objects in existence
Chapter 1: quasar discoveries
In the 1950s, astronomers detected mysterious star like objects emitting massive amounts of radioactive energy. It wasn’t until the 60s that we discovered tiny objects with cosmological redshift means high lumosity over a very large distance at a very fast velocity. Redshift is the concept that wavelengths of light stretch out and shift towards the red end of the light spectrum if traveling great distances. Cosmological redshift is redshift which occurs for light emitted billions of years ago soon after the Big Bang. This light is just not hitting our eyes on Earth, and redshifted to an extreme degree, yet also appears extremely bright.
It was not until the 1970s with the discovery of black holes however, that we confirmed what Quasars really are:
Supermassive black hole lasers!
Chapter 2: supermassive black holes
Supermassive Black Hole formation is still a mysterious part of physics, but we know they exist at the core of every large galaxy (like ours)! Scientists are still baffled how such large cosmological monsters formed so swiftly in the early universe.
But how can black holes, which are known for trapping light…be the brightest objects in the universe???
A black hole feast! See, The only things capable of generating that much lumosity are supermassive black holes
No other solar body can emit the equivalent of TRILLIONS OF SUNS
Supermassive black holes were formed at the start of the universe, when tons of space dust, gas, particles etc. were rapidly orbiting and accelerating
This leads to a very bright feast of matter circulating a supermassive black hole, called the Accretion Disk.
Chapter 3: lasers
Matter falling at an angle into a black hole accelerates to the speed of light around it before disappearing: this is known as the Accretion Disk.
Early universe galaxies formed and collided with each other, pushing matter in range of the supermassive black hole and creating the Accretion Disk.
As the accretion disk circles, matter orbits into paths that get flung out, forming huge jets of matter shooting out.
These jets shoot out plumes of matter for hundreds of thousands of light years, carving out regions in the universe
Chapter 4: Quasars and the UniversE
How these primordial behemoths shaped the early universe
Scientists believe these behemoths pushed matter far out in the early universe. As the universe expands, this matter forms clusters, carving out regions in the universe which then expanded over billions of year to the galaxy clusters.
Discoveries of early stage quasars further lead us to more questions than answers, and the true origin and impact of these strange objects still continues to puzzle astronomers today.
In February of 2024, the fastest growing black hole was discovered, powering a quasar with the equivalent lumosity of 500 trillion suns.
