The Mystery Behind The Powerful Quasars Finally Solved By Experts

Earth Sky

Scientists have made a groundbreaking discovery regarding the enigmatic nature of quasars, the brightest and most powerful entities in the Universe.

After decades of speculation, researchers from the Universities of Sheffield and Hertfordshire have unveiled the key behind their ignition: collisions between galaxies.

Quasars, initially detected six decades ago, possess a luminosity equivalent to that of a trillion stars confined within the volume of our Solar System. Unraveling the trigger for such intense activity has long puzzled scientists. However, recent investigations employing deep imaging observations from the Isaac Newton Telescope in La Palma have shed light on the matter. These observations revealed distorted structures in the outer regions of the galaxies that house quasars, signifying the presence of collisions.

Typically, galaxies harbor supermassive black holes at their cores and contain substantial amounts of gas. However, this gas often orbits at considerable distances from the galactic centers, beyond the grasp of the black holes. When galaxies collide, the gas is propelled towards the central black hole. Just before being consumed by the black hole, the gas emits an extraordinary amount of energy in the form of radiation, generating the characteristic brilliance associated with quasars.


The ignition of a quasar exerts profound consequences on the entire galaxy. It expels the remaining gas from the galaxy, impeding the formation of new stars for billions of years to come.

This study marks the first time that a sample of quasars of this magnitude has been imaged with such precision. By comparing observations of 48 quasars and their host galaxies with images of over 100 non-quasar galaxies, researchers have determined that galaxies hosting quasars are approximately three times more likely to be engaged in interactions or collisions with other galaxies.

The findings, published in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, represent a significant leap forward in comprehending the triggers and sustenance mechanisms behind these awe-inspiring phenomena.

Professor Clive Tadhunter, from the University of Sheffield’s Department of Physics and Astronomy, said that “Quasars are one of the most extreme phenomena in the Universe, and what we see is likely to represent the future of our own Milky Way galaxy when it collides with the Andromeda galaxy in about five billion years.”


“It’s exciting to observe these events and finally understand why they occur – but thankfully Earth won’t be anywhere near one of these apocalyptic episodes for quite some time.”

Quasars have also played an important role in astrophysicists because, because of how bright they are, they can be seen even at large distances. This means that they are very much like beacons to the earliest epochs when it comes to the history of the Universe.

Dr Jonny Pierce, a Post-Doctoral Research Fellow at the University of Hertfordshire, spoke about this and said, “It’s an area that scientists around the world are keen to learn more about – one of the main scientific motivations for NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope was to study the earliest galaxies in the Universe, and Webb is capable of detecting light from even the most distant quasars, emitted nearly 13 billion years ago.”

“Quasars play a key role in our understanding of the history of the Universe, and possibly also the future of the Milky Way,” he also added.

 

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