Quasars

Quasars have been a mystery over the years, until we discovered more about them.

Why is the name ‘Quasar’ so strange? It sounds cool right!

What does Quasar stand for ? Quasar actually stands for Quasi Stellar Object, called a Quasar for short.

 

Quasars have been known since the 1950’s when they were first discovered.

Do not confuse Quasars with gamma rays or gamma ray bursts even though they are similar in the fact that they are both energy sources that produce light.

Quasars are a product of energy and light that is produced by an active feeding black hole at the centre of a galaxy.  Usually its when black holes are active while the galaxy is young and still producing gases to make stars that quasars appear, causing a massive burst of energy in the form of light, making this wonderful phenomenon.

 

The below picture as an actual real life picture of a quasar that was taken by the Hubble Telescope.

 

This a 3C 273

This Quasar taken by a space telescope is billions upon billions of miles away, and is very bright. Quasars when active can shine straight through an entre galaxy, making them one of the most brightest things in the entire universe.  

 

Although Quasars seen through normal telescopes might just look like distant stars, they are confirmed to be Quasars through radio telescopes first. The radio telescope defeats the wave of energy, and then the telescope can confirm that the beam of light is in fact a quasar and not just another star. Like in the picture above.   

 

Kids Fun Facts Corner

# 1. Quasars are brighter than the light from multiple galaxies combined.  

# 2. The nearest known quasar to earth is over 780 million light years away.

# 3. Over 190 thousand quasars have been discovered since the 1950’s.

# 4. All quasars have a life cycle and will die out.

 

Q&A Corner

Q. What does Quasar stand for?

Q. How are Quasars created?

Q. How are Quasars detected?

Q. How far away is the nearest known Quasar?

Q. How many Quasars have been discovered since the 1950’s?

Download questions about Quasars here: Quasars (answers are on this page)

For further reading and more  info on Quasars visit http://amazingfacts4u.com/quasar/