Blazar facts for kids
A blazar is a special type of quasar, which is a very bright and distant object in space. Blazars are thought to have a huge supermassive black hole at the heart of a large, active elliptical galaxy. These amazing objects are some of the most powerful things we know of in the universe, making them very important for astronomy.
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What is a Blazar?
Blazars belong to a group of galaxies that have something called an Active Galactic Nucleus (AGN). An AGN is a super bright area at the center of a galaxy. It shines much more brightly than normal across different types of light, like radio waves, X-rays, and visible light.
How Blazars Got Their Name
The word "blazar" was first used in 1978 by an astronomer named Edward Spiegel. Blazars are special because they have a powerful jet of energy and particles that points almost directly towards Earth. Imagine looking straight down a giant cosmic flashlight beam! This is why blazars appear so bright to us.
Superfast Jets
Many blazars show what looks like "superluminal motion" in their jets. This means parts of the jet seem to move faster than the speed of light! Don't worry, they aren't actually breaking the cosmic speed limit. This effect happens because the jet is moving incredibly fast and pointing almost right at us. It's a bit like an optical illusion caused by relativistic shock waves.
The Blazar in Messier 87
One famous blazar is found at the center of the galaxy M87. This blazar is powered by a black hole that is about three billion times heavier than our Sun! This giant black hole is located within just ten light-years of the galaxy's center. It pulls in matter, which then creates the powerful jets we see.
Images for kids
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An artist's drawing of what a blazar might look like.
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This picture from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey shows the blazar Markarian 421. You can see its very bright center and the elliptical galaxy it lives in.
See also
In Spanish: Blázar para niños
