Blazars

Why in News?

Astronomers from the Aryabhatta Research Institute of Observational Sciences (ARIES), Nainital studied four classical TeV blazars—Mrk 421, Mrk 501, PG 1553+113 and PKS 2155-304—to investigate the sources of their intense X-ray emission. Using observations from NASA’s NICER and NuSTAR space telescopes, researchers analysed the X-ray radiation from these objects. The study can provide insights into the extreme physical conditions around supermassive black holes and help improve understanding of how active galaxies are powered.

About Blazars

Blazars are among the most energetic objects in the Universe and are a type of active galaxy powered by a supermassive black hole (SMBH) at its centre. As matter falls towards the black hole, enormous amounts of energy can be released and powerful jets of relativistic particles can be produced.

A blazar is observed when one of these powerful jets is directed almost directly towards Earth. Due to this orientation, the radiation from the jet appears exceptionally bright, making blazars important objects for studying extreme astrophysical processes.

About TeV Blazars

TeV blazars are an especially energetic class of blazars that produce very-high-energy gamma rays reaching tera-electron volt (TeV) energies. Their X-ray spectra are generally dominated by radiation from the relativistic jet because the jet is oriented towards Earth.

This strong jet emission can make it difficult to detect radiation originating from other regions of the galaxy, particularly the accretion disk surrounding the supermassive black hole. Observations using sensitive space telescopes such as NICER and NuSTAR therefore help researchers distinguish and understand the different sources of high-energy radiation.

Source: PIB

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