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physical object > natural object > celestial body > collection of stars > galaxy > emission line galaxy > violent galaxy > quasar |
quasar (QSO) | ||||
subject | fact |
quasar | has redshift large | |
has catalog quasar catalog | ||
has luminosity very large | ||
has acronym QSO | ||
has definition The brightest objects in the universe, quasars can generate over a trillion times as much light as the Sun from a region little larger than the solar system. Most are extremely distant, which means that they existed long ago. | ||
has definition An intensely bright extragalactic object which superficially resembles a star. Most exist at very high redshifts and are therefore thought to be the nuclei of active galaxies. | ||
has definition Compact-looking objects, often radio sources, with emission lines in their spectrum which are displaced by very large amounts towards the red. These redshifts correspond to velocities which are a large fraction of the speed of light, and hence these objects are believed to lie at great distances. | ||
has definition Extremely distant and luminous astronomical objects that are much smaller than a galaxy and much more luminous. Quasars may be the central regions of certain very energetic galaxies at an early stage of their evolution. It is believed that the power of a quasar derives from a massive black hole at its center. | ||
has definition An object with a dominant starlike (i.e., diameter less than 1") component, with an emission line spectrum showing a large redshift - up to z = 3.53 (0.91c) for OQ 172. (The largest redshift known for a normal radio galaxy is z = 0.637 for 3C 123.) Many have multiple absorption redshifts; a few have multiple emission redshifts. (Bahcall system: class I, zabs ≈ zem; class II, zabs significantly less than zem.) The light of most if not all quasars is variable over time intervals between a few days and several years, so their diameters must not be much larger than the diameter of the solar system; yet they are the intrinsically brightest objects known (for 3C 273 (z = 0.158), Mv = -27.5 if its redshift is cosmological). The energy output of a typical quasar at "cosmological" distance is of the order of 1047 ergs per second - which would require a mass of 1010 Msun if it derives its energy solely from nuclear fusion. (Energy requirement under the "local" hypothesis is on the order of 1042 ergs per second.) The basic problem of quasars is that they emit too much radiation in too short a time from too small an area. | ||
is a kind of violent galaxy | ||
violent galaxy | has synonym eruptive galaxy | |
has synonym exploding galaxy | ||
emission line galaxy | has emission lines | |
galaxy | has number of stars 106 to 1012 | |
celestial body | has spectra | |
physical object | has location or center of gravity | |
has angular momentum | ||
has mass | ||
has velocity | ||
has momentum | ||
has temperature | ||
has volume | ||
has extent | ||
has material |
Kinds of quasar :
Up: violent galaxy