Blazar
Very compact quasi-stellar radio source
Blazar
A blazar (neologism of "BL Lacertae" and "Quasar") is an active galactic nucleus (AGN) with a relativistic jet – a jet composed of ionized matter traveling at nearly the speed of light – directed very nearly towards an observer. Relativistic beaming of electromagnetic radiation from the jet makes blazars appear much brighter than they would be if the jet were pointed in a direction away from Earth. Blazars are powerful sources of emission across the electromagnetic spectrum and are observed to be sources of high-energy gamma ray photons. Blazars are highly variable sources, often undergoing rapid and dramatic fluctuations in brightness on short timescales (hours to days). Some blazar jets appear to exhibit superluminal motion, another consequence of material in the jet traveling toward the observer at nearly the speed of light. The blazar category is sub-divided into BL Lac objects and flat-spectrum radio quasars (FSRQ), with the former having weak or no emission lines and the latter showing...
Read on Wikipedia · Image NASA and The Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA), Public domain
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