the.com/blazar
a supermassive black hole pointing its cosmic flashlight directly at your face.
means a blazar is an active galactic nucleus whose relativistic jet happens to aim almost straight at earth, making it look absurdly bright and violently variable.
from coined in 1978 by astronomer edward spiegel, blending bl lac object with quasar to name this newly recognized hybrid class.
jet speedparticles move at 99.9 percent light speed
brightness swingscan double in brightness within hours
rarityjet must point within a few degrees of earth
energy sourcepowered by supermassive black holes billions of suns heavy
for instance
bl lacertae — originally mistaken for a variable star in 1929
markarian 421 — one of the closest and most studied gamma-ray blazars
ton 618 — hosts one of the most massive black holes ever measured