IAA-CSIC: Existence of a Group of "Quiet" Quasars Confirmed

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IAA-CSIC: Existence of a Group of "Quiet" Quasars Confirmed

Post by bystander » Wed Oct 29, 2014 5:01 pm

Existence of a Group of "Quiet" Quasars Confirmed
Institute of Astrophysics of Andalusia | High Council of Scientific Research, Spain | 2014 Oct 29

Apart from very distant, ultraluminous quasars - evolving rapidly and associated with galaxy mergers - there is likely another population of quasars that evolves slowly
Aeons ago, the universe was different: mergers of galaxies were common and gigantic black holes with masses equivalent to billions of times that of the Sun formed in their nuclei. As they captured the surrounding gas, these black holes emitted energy. Known as quasars, these very distant and tremendously high energy objects have local relatives with much lower energy whose existence raises numerous questions: are there also such “quiet” quasars at much larger distances? Are the latter dying versions of the former or are they completely different?

Light from distant quasars takes billions of years to reach us, so when we detect it we are actually looking at the universe as it was a long time ago. "Astronomers have always wanted to compare past and present, but it has been almost impossible because at great distances we can only see the brightest objects and nearby such objects no longer exist", says Jack W. Sulentic, astronomer at the Institute of Astrophysics of Andalusia (IAA-CSIC), who is leading the research. “Until now we have compared very luminous distant quasars with weaker ones closeby, which is tantamount to comparing household light bulbs with the lights in a football stadium”. Now we are able to detect the household light bulbs very far away in the distant past. ...

GTC Spectra of z ≈ 2.3 Quasars: Comparison with Local Luminosity Analogues - Jack W. Sulentic et al
Know the quiet place within your heart and touch the rainbow of possibility; be
alive to the gentle breeze of communication, and please stop being such a jerk.
— Garrison Keillor

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