What are the quasars?

2002/10/10 Elhuyar Zientzia

• Astronomia

Quasarra is the nucleus of distant galaxies. Being very bright his light reaches to the Earth. Or not? That is, at least, the explanation that is made so far. However, there are doubts. Margaret Burbidge and other prestigious astronomers have proposed that quasars have to do with nearby galaxies. In fact, most of the quasars have been detected around nearby, very active galaxies. Therefore, according to these last astronomers, quasars are sets of stars ‘launched’ by active galaxies. In the photos we see the physical union between quasars and galaxy in the form of narrow light bridges.

However, the explanation is not so simple, we must take into account many other characteristics. For example, the sliding towards the red of the quasars. The light emitted by all galaxies, by Dopler effect, is increasingly reddish; astronomer Edwin Hubble discovered that the universe is constantly expanding. But if a quasar is attached to a certain galaxy, they should have the same slide, and that does not happen. For Burbidge, the sliding of the quasars has an explanation of its own and alien to the expansion of the universe.

The debate is intense. Some astronomers do not find evidence of Burbidge's hypothesis either on the slide or on the connecting bridges. However, the viewing of the light bridge sometimes depends on the quality of the photo, so the hypothesis of the Burbidge group has not lost strength.

In any case, the debate has no clear answer. What are the quasars?