The Blazar's Blast - Ask a Spaceman!

Support the show: / pmsutter
All episodes: www.AskASpaceman.com
Like on Facebook: / paulmattsutter
What powers a quasar? Just how strong is a blazar? What’s the connection to giant black holes? I discuss these questions and more in today’s Ask a Spaceman!
Support the show: / pmsutter
All episodes: www.AskASpaceman.com
Follow on Twitter: / paulmattsutter
Like on Facebook: / paulmattsutter
Watch on KZbin: / paulmsutter
Go on an adventure: www.AstroTouring.com/
Keep those questions about space, science, astronomy, astrophysics, physics, and cosmology coming to #AskASpaceman for COMPLETE KNOWLEDGE OF TIME AND SPACE!
Big thanks to my top Patreon supporters this month: Justin G., Matthew K., Kevin O., Justin R., Chris C., Helge B., Tim R., Nick T., Lars H., Ray S., John F., , Anilavadhanula, Mark R., and David B.!
Music by Jason Grady and Nick Bain.
Thanks to WCBE Radio for hosting the recording session, Greg Mobius for producing, and Cathy Rinella for editing.
Hosted by Paul M. Sutter, astrophysicist at The Ohio State University, Chief Scientist at COSI Science Center, and the one and only Agent to the Stars (www.pmsutter.com).

[@clintwolf1557]

It’s a shame that many teachers aren’t like Dr. Sutter. These videos make the information presented totally accessible and interesting for anyone, from grandparents to grandkids. Also, if more teachers were like him, I think more kids would find science interesting and the U.S. wouldn’t be falling so far behind the rest of the world in science and technology. I’m glad, though, that at least some other countries are doing so well in those areas. It’s a shame the whole world isn’t keeping up.

[@problemecium]

Anyone else hear "If you're spinning, and you're compressing, you're gonna make a desk?" Perhaps we have stumbled upon an efficient new means of rapid desk manufacture! xD

[@poisontoad8007]

Awesome single take bro. Respect.

[@PaulMSutter]

+Poison !Toad Ha! Thanks :)

[@savagesarethebest7251]

He is good, but he said redshift when it should be blueshift

[@problemecium]

Ever since I first read the term "blazar" I keep wanting to think it's short for "blazi-stellar radio source" xD

[@PaulMSutter]

I'll take it!

[@ricksspeedshop]

Absolutely fascinating! I can't get enough of this subject :)

[@PaulMSutter]

Yes! This is such a fun topic.

[@Soldadummy]

Really like your work! I like your animation and youre very good at breaking information down for lay people.

[@PaulMSutter]

Thanks, I appreciate that!

[@chrissscottt]

Amazar!! Nice work Paul.

[@PaulMSutter]

Thanks!

[@larrybeckham6652]

Question: Compare the relative luminosity of a candle, a police flash-bang grenade, and the flash of Hiroshima bomb, vs. a normal galaxy, a normal quasar, and the brightest know blazer.

[@PaulMSutter]

I'm guessing but I think the Hiroshima/candle ratio is larger than the blazar/galaxy ratio.

[@larrybeckham6652]

Paul M. Sutter Mmm, that is what a scientist does? Guess?

[@larrybeckham6652]

Dr. Paul M. Sutter, I do apologize. My last comment was flippant and disrespectful. An educated guess from a Good Doctor like you has weight and I have no right to expect more of you for this useless thought problem when you gave so much to us. Thumbs down for me!

[@FOE7]

This was amazing, thanks a lot!

[@PaulMSutter]

Thank you!

[@ApophaticCartesian8]

So any quasar becomes a blazar as long as the relativistic jet is pointing directly at us?

[@PaulMSutter]

Not all quasars generate a relativistic jet, and why some do and some don't isn't well understood.

[@ApophaticCartesian8]

Say were talking about a quasar with a jet, the only thing not making it a blazar is that it is not pointed directly at Earth?

[@Mandrak789]

Robert Keller That should be right.

[@iMshadab]

If our galactic centre was a quasar then would it have looked more brighter than sun in our sky?

[@PaulMSutter]

Yeah, basically!

[@Mandrak789]

Milky way was a quasar, and perhaps a blazar, up until 6 million years ago, when Sgr A* was feeding. We have at least two solid indications: expanding shockwave-like bubble of gasses, currently at the distance of 20k ly from the core, moving away at speed which puts it right into the center 6 million years ago; and the presence of a lot of ~6 million year old stars in the central galactic region, possibly formed from gasses falling into, or blasting out of the Sgr A* at that time.

[@mal2ksc]

Fortunately for life on Earth, our own galaxy is the least dangerous one to us because we're going to be 90 degrees off the jet axis, or very close to it. Now when we collide and merge with Andromeda, the disks of both galaxies will be disrupted, and we _could_ end up on a jet axis. That's about two billion years away though, so it's not high on the priority list. :)

[@Mandrak789]

But what if the axis of rotation of Sgr A* is pointing at us? Does it necessarily have to be 90 degrees off the galactic plane?

[@wsmith49]

Thanks for another spot-on and informative vid! You are tops at explaining this cutting edge stuff to the rabble (that's me!). One thing on this talk that I'm confused about, though: At about 8:44 you are talking about the relativistic beaming effect that causes the radiation in the jet to "red-shift up to higher frequencies." Am I having a senior moment, or do we mean "blue-shift up to higher frequencies" or if I can't tell the reds from the blues anymore, maybe: "red-shift up to higher wavelengths?" Sorry to bug you if I'm just being stupid; but maybe you could rub a jot of shine onto my ignorance? Thanks again for these fantastic vids. I've only seen a dozen or so so far, so I'm excited about cruising around and watching absolutely everything you've done, plus keeping up on my sub.

[@PaulMSutter]

+wsmith49 Argh you're absolutely right! I'm so used to using the word "redshift" in cosmological contexts that I just toss it around everywhere. Thanks for the catch!

[@wsmith49]

No "Argh" necessary. Your madman genius talks are always 99.99999999% accurate and 110% exciting. It's no wonder when a planck-length of almost-irrelevant entangled error creeps in. Thanks for taking the time to quell my confusion! And thank you for the charismatic energy that you dedicate to making clear to us all the abstruse, the cutting-edge and the fascinating.

[@govedar1]

love the channel!! can you please tell us more about other kinds of active galactic nuclei with strange names that you have mentioned ;) weiner? sifert??

[@PaulMSutter]

Thanks, and it's on the list!

[@Tread69]

Made me think of pulling taffy.

[@MrKago1]

so these jets basically are magnetic lenses for these streams of energetic possible? if so, are these beams (because of the magnetic nature nature of them) are they like coherent light in a laser, are they polarized?

[@PaulMSutter]

The magnetic fields act like a straw tube that keep the jets coherent over such huge distances. The jets themselves are made of high-energy particles that go on to emit crazy amounts of radiation.

[@PhilFogle]

I think the jets contain particles that emit high energy photons through synchrotron radiation, so, yes, they would be polarized. Any one?

[@DeBanked]

Mind blown"

[@PaulMSutter]

Mission accomplished!

[@oisnowy5368]

For amateur astronomers what are the best possibilities of observing quasars?

[@PaulMSutter]

They're most easily spotted in the radio, actually! So get yourself a couple dishes and go somewhere quiet :)

[@nobiggeridiot]

Nature also makes Turtle and Teapot shapes !!!

[@PaulMSutter]

Ha, fair enough :)

[@nielsandersen6164]

Redshift to HIGHER frequencies?

[@savagesarethebest7251]

He should had said blueshift

[@bedroomjunkie8201]

Paul, could you please explain some of the details concerning Halton Arp's quasar research and associated seyfert galaxies, and the implications over the intrinsic red shift he purportedly discovered with such phenomenon. i.e. If Red shift is indeed possibly intrinsic to Quasars, then presumably its usefulness as a descriptor of distance is also questionable, and if a quasars power / perceived brightness is relative to its distance, then one would assume that such a body which is a thousand times closer than its red shift might imply, could be similarly understood as a thousand times more powerful than it actually is?

[@PaulMSutter]

Arp's work on quasars was, shall we say, less than rigorous.

[@bedroomjunkie8201]

I would really appreciate it if you could elaborate as to precisely why his work and similar ideas are provably fallacious? i.e. Margaret Burbidge was the Director of the Royal Greenwich Observatory, was one of the pioneers in the spectroscopic study of quasars, and according to her wiki, supports intrinsic redshift and was one reputable scientist who thought Arps work was meritorious. Were they all similarly deluded? Please know that I have looked high and low for an objective third party explanation of their quasar claims, via a helpful collection of factual findings to demonstrate why they are false. Please also appreciate that "less than rigorious" is along the lines of an "appeal to authority" (as undisputed as I'm sure it is). I really would appreciate (with cherries on top) something a little more socratic if at all possible. I suspect Its also a topic that I'm sure would generate traffic if you could stomach the idea of addressing it. Thanking you kindly good SIr.

[@bedroomjunkie8201]

p.s. thanks also for the previous reply, I know you could have ignored me etc, I can appreciate its a subject you might not be interested in, its just you were talking about quasars which you are interested in, and the subject of Arps work being mired in a unique kind of political controversy is fascinating in its own right. And I'm sure that there must be ways of disputing some of his findings with demonstrable contrary observations as opposed to the ad hominem alternatives. I wouldn't even know where to go to find some scientific papers on the subject or have the where withal to interpret them. Anyway, I hope that sort of explains my query and intent a bit better. - and hope you are having a good weekend.

[@ChristiaanCorthals]

what's the glitch between time index 10:55 and 11:10 in this video?

[@PaulMSutter]

I'm an amateur video editor and forgot to cut that mistake out!

[@ChristiaanCorthals]

OK, so no glitch in the Matrix nor effect caused by accidental travel between alternate universes where the same recording happened...

[@krisztianpovazson4535]

Quasars are occasions when God wanted to try out how far the power level goes. Why were these things so much more common in the early universe? Active galactic nuclei today seem rather lackadaisical in contrast, as far as eldritch monstrosities go. Is it because primal gas was a better fuel? Or is it just visibility bias?

[@realkarfixer8208]

Yummm pancakes, that you can see across the universe.

[@PaulMSutter]

If only we had some maple syrup...

[@realkarfixer8208]

So is it Dark Matter as maple syrup or maple syrup as Dark Matter?

[@TeethToothman]

☠️🫀☠️