Ep. 98: Quasars

Artist illustration of a quasar. Image credit: NASA credit: Artist illustration of a quasar. Image credit: NASA

Last week we talked about galaxies in general, and hinted at the most violent and energetic ones out there: active galaxies. Quasars have been a mystery for half a century; what kind of object could throw out more radiation than an entire galaxy? A black hole, it turns out, with the mass of hundreds of millions of suns performs this feat. Let's trace back the history of quasars, how they were first discovered and puzzled astronomers for so long. And let's look at what we know today. Ep. 98: Quasars

Show Notes

Ep. 98: Quasars

Quick Queries on Quasars

• Tutorial on Quasars from the University of California, San Diego
• Quasar FAQ's from Virginia Tech
• Quasars from the Internet Encyclopedia of Science
• Gamma Ray Quasar from Astronomy Picture of the Day
• Images of Quasars and Radio Galaxies

In the Old Days…

• History of Radio Astronomy
• The 3C Catalogue (Third Cambridge Catalogue of Radio Sources)
• History of Quasars
• Pamela's Star Stryder blog about "angry monsters"

We're learning more about quasars all the time…

• Active Galaxies and Quasars (Imagine the Universe)
• Intro to Active Galactic Nuclei
• Quasars and Active Galactic Nuclei
• Bill Keel's article for Astronomy Magazine about Quasar Astronomy
• Video about the formation of the Mice galaxies
• Seyfert Galaxies
• Paper on the redshift difference between the broad and narrow emission lines of the radio source OQ208
• Blazars
• Chandra image and info about the supermassive black hole at the center of the Milky Way galaxy
• "Strange Difference Between Gamma Ray Bursts and Quasars" — Universe Today article
• About astronomer Andrea Dupree
• Sagittarius A

• Example of folding fans

1. Josh Lopez Says:
   July 22nd, 2008 at 2:46 pm

   **Gasp**

   This is the one I've been waiting for all along.
   You guys are amazing. I can't wait.

   btw, Fraser, did you notice your colonizing Venus article was featured on slashdot?

2. SF Reader Says:
   July 23rd, 2008 at 9:29 am

   One early hypothesis (from SF writers) was that quasars were the exhaust from Bussard ramjets within our galaxy… too bad they turned out to be the far more prosaic active black holes.

   *sigh*

   Dennis

3. davew Says:
   July 29th, 2008 at 2:46 pm

   Thanks for a great show

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