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Content provided by McDonald Observatory and Billy Henry. All podcast content including episodes, graphics, and podcast descriptions are uploaded and provided directly by McDonald Observatory and Billy Henry or their podcast platform partner. If you believe someone is using your copyrighted work without your permission, you can follow the process outlined here https://staging.podcastplayer.com/legal.
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Distant Light
Manage episode 478380951 series 178791
Content provided by McDonald Observatory and Billy Henry. All podcast content including episodes, graphics, and podcast descriptions are uploaded and provided directly by McDonald Observatory and Billy Henry or their podcast platform partner. If you believe someone is using your copyrighted work without your permission, you can follow the process outlined here https://staging.podcastplayer.com/legal.
The most amazing object visible through a small telescope doesn’t look all that remarkable. In fact, it looks like a faint star. Yet that point of light packs the power of 10 trillion Suns – the power of a quasar.
3C 273 is the first quasar ever discovered. When astronomers first saw it, they thought it was just another star. It looks like a star, and its main ingredient is like a star’s as well. But when they measured its distance, they were astonished: 3C 273 was two and a half billion light-years away. That meant it couldn’t be a star at all. Instead, they classified it as a quasi-stellar object – a quasar.
Astronomers eventually figured out that it’s powered by a black hole at the heart of a giant galaxy. The black hole is about 900 million times the mass of the Sun. Its enormous gravity pulls in huge amounts of gas and dust, and maybe some stars. That material forms a spinning disk around the black hole. The disk is heated to millions of degrees, so it shines brilliantly – bright enough to see from two and a half billion light-years away.
3C 273 is in Virgo. The constellation’s brightest star, Spica, is low in the southeast at nightfall. The quasar stands high above it, about a third of the way up the sky. Despite its great power, it’s too faint to see with the eye alone. But a telescope reveals this deceptive wonder – a monster masquerading as a star.
Script by Damond Benningfield
2843 episodes
Share
Manage episode 478380951 series 178791
Content provided by McDonald Observatory and Billy Henry. All podcast content including episodes, graphics, and podcast descriptions are uploaded and provided directly by McDonald Observatory and Billy Henry or their podcast platform partner. If you believe someone is using your copyrighted work without your permission, you can follow the process outlined here https://staging.podcastplayer.com/legal.
The most amazing object visible through a small telescope doesn’t look all that remarkable. In fact, it looks like a faint star. Yet that point of light packs the power of 10 trillion Suns – the power of a quasar.
3C 273 is the first quasar ever discovered. When astronomers first saw it, they thought it was just another star. It looks like a star, and its main ingredient is like a star’s as well. But when they measured its distance, they were astonished: 3C 273 was two and a half billion light-years away. That meant it couldn’t be a star at all. Instead, they classified it as a quasi-stellar object – a quasar.
Astronomers eventually figured out that it’s powered by a black hole at the heart of a giant galaxy. The black hole is about 900 million times the mass of the Sun. Its enormous gravity pulls in huge amounts of gas and dust, and maybe some stars. That material forms a spinning disk around the black hole. The disk is heated to millions of degrees, so it shines brilliantly – bright enough to see from two and a half billion light-years away.
3C 273 is in Virgo. The constellation’s brightest star, Spica, is low in the southeast at nightfall. The quasar stands high above it, about a third of the way up the sky. Despite its great power, it’s too faint to see with the eye alone. But a telescope reveals this deceptive wonder – a monster masquerading as a star.
Script by Damond Benningfield
2843 episodes
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Similar to StarDate
This Week in Evolution is a podcast on the biology of what makes us tick. Hosts Nels Elde and Vincent Racaniello take you through the new evolution that has been revolutionized by the field of genomics and molecular biology.
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continue reading
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…
continue reading
Come dive into one of the curiously delightful conversations overheard at National Geographic’s headquarters, as we follow explorers, photographers, and scientists to the edges of our big, weird, beautiful world. Hosted by Peter Gwin and Amy Briggs.
…
continue reading
The Science Show gives Australians unique insights into the latest scientific research and debate, from the physics of cricket to prime ministerial biorhythms.
…
continue reading
Scientists Daniel and Kelly cannot stop talking about our amazing, wonderful, weird Universe! Each episode is a fun, easy-to-understand, and in-depth explanation of topics in science, from particles to black holes to moon colonies to ecosystems to parasites and everything else in the Universe!
…
continue reading
Take a fact-based journey through the cosmos. Tune in to hear weekly discussions on astronomical topics ranging from planets to cosmology. Hosted by Fraser Cain (Universe Today) and Dr. Pamela L. Gay (Planetary Science Institute), this show brings the questions of an avid astronomy lover direct to an astronomer. Together Fraser and Pamela explore what is known and being discovered about the universe around us. Astronomy Cast is supported thru patreon.com/AstronomyCast.
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continue reading
I discuss a variety of topics in both the natural and social sciences, exploring the many fascinating insights that the scientific method yields about the world around us.
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continue reading
Emergency Medicine Cases – Where the Experts Keep You in the Know. For show notes, quizzes, videos and more learning tools please visit emergencymedicinecases.com
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