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University of Wyoming gets money to research quasars
This is good news for the science of and in astrophysics research arena.
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration has award two grants totaling $800,000 to assistant professor and astronomer Michael Brotherton and postdoctorate colleague Zhaohui Shang, both in the College of Arts and Sciences Department of Physics and Astronomy. The grants will support their efforts to advance the understanding of quasar, which are energetic, luminous objects that are powered by massive black holes.
Quasars appear as blue, star-like objects living in distant galaxies that are not visible to the eye, according to Brotherton and Shang. They say quasars must be viewed using optical, ultraviolet or infrared telescopes. According to Brotherton, quasars can shine for at least millions of years and be seen from billions of light-years away.
Brotherton's long-term space astrophysics grant of $620,000 over five-years is one of NASA's largest and most significant awards to individual researchers. The grant is to study the post-star burst quasar population, a newly-identified type of quasar.
Brotherton notes this will be the first, large systematic study of this class of objects. The research will determine how quasars fit into understanding the evolution of galaxies and central black holes.
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Seems like a very timely news release:Discovery By UCSD Astronomers Poses A Cosmic Puzzle: Can A 'Distant' Quasar Lie Within A Nearby Galaxy?
Excellent Hubble photo's on the page.
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