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Bright Blazar’s Emission Defies Explanations
Artist’s concept of the Hubble Space Telescope viewing ultraviolet light from the jet of the active galactic nucleus of PKS 1424+240. Clouds of hydrogen gas along the line of sight absorb the light at known frequencies, allowing the redshift and distance of each cloud to be determined. The most distant gas cloud determines the minimum distance to PKS 1424+240. Data from the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope, shown on the horizon at the left, were also used for this study. (Image composition by Nina McCurdy, component images courtesy of NASA)
When it comes to sheer wattage, blazars definitely rule. As the brightest of active galactic nuclei, these sources of extreme high-energy gamma rays are usually associated with relativistic jets of material spewing into space and enabled by matter falling into a host galaxy’s black hole. The further away they are, the dimmer they should be, right? Not necessarily. According to new observations of blazar PKS 1424+240, the emission spectrum might hold a new twist… one that can’t be readily explained. (…)
Read the rest of Bright Blazar’s Emission Defies Explanations (523 words)
© tammy for Universe Today, 2013. |
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Post tags: AGN, Blazar, extragalactic background light, Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope, Gamma rays, VERITAS (Very Energetic Radiation Imaging Telescope Array System)
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2013-04-18 16:02:07
Source: http://www.universetoday.com/101559/bright-blazars-emission-defies-explanations/
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