Hong-Yee Chiu - The Universe TV - Horizon TV - Stephen Hawking TV - Journey to the Edge of the Universe TV - How the Universe Works TV - Alex Filippenko - George Gamow -
So far, the clumsily long name ‘quasi-stellar radio sources’ is used to describe these objects. Because the nature of these objects is entirely unknown, it is hard to prepare a short, appropriate nomenclature for them so that their essential properties are obvious from their name. For convenience, the abbreviated form ‘quasar’ 'enience, the abbreviated form 'quaser' will be used throughout this paper. Hong-Yee Chiu, Physics Today, 1964
Quasars are the most energy efficient mechanisms in the cosmos: they give off more power than a hundred normal galaxies and they’re ten trillion times brighter than our sun. The Universe s1e12: Most Dangerous Places, History 2007
They are the freaks of the cosmos: pulsars and quasars so strange their very existence seems impossible. The Universe s4e10: Pulsars & Quasars
A pulsar seems to blink on and off because the rotating star is sending out beams of energy from its magnetic field. ibid.
Quasars – in the heart of each one sits a monster. ibid.
Quasars are nothing less than feeding, supermassive black holes. Horizon: Swallowed by a Black Hole, BBC 2013
Wheeler had another agenda in embracing the unlikely premise of black holes. Quasars had become a nagging mystery. Could it be he wondered that one phenomenon could explain another? Stephen Hawking’s Universe: Black Holes & Beyond, PBS 1997
The deadliest most powerful thing in the universe – a quasar. A swirling cauldron of super-hot gas brighter than hundreds of galaxies ... A heart of darkness, a supermassive black hole. As heavy as a billion suns. Journey to the Edge of the Universe, National Geographic 2008
Quasars blast away huge quantities of gas from the surrounding galaxy. The equivalent of ten Earths every minute. Black holes suck gas in; quasars blow it out. But eventually there’s no gas left to make stars. And the galaxy stops growing. With no gas left to feed on, the quasar jets shrink and die. What’s left is a supermassive black hole at the centre of the galaxy with a lot of infant stars. Just like our Milky Way when it was young. How the Universe Works s1e2: Black Holes, Discovery 2010
They all seem to orbit something at their centre ... A black hole. And not just any sort of black hole but a supermassive black hole. The meal is gas and stars. And it’s being consumed by the supermassive black hole. But sometimes black holes devour too quickly. And what they’re consuming is discharged back into space as beams of pure energy. It’s called a Quasar. How the Universe Works s1e3: Galaxies
When scientists see a quasar blasting from a galaxy they know it has a supermassive black hole. (ibid.
Mysterious lights shine out from the edge of space brighter than a trillion suns. Energy so powerful they could incinerate planets and rip stars to pieces. They can destroy galaxies but may also be the key to their survival. These celestial powerhouses are called quasars. How the Universe Works s6e5: The Quasar Enigma
A quasar is the ultra-bright core of an extremely distant galaxy. ibid.
Stars 25 times more massive than our sun … suffer a catastrophic collapse … giving birth to a black hole … Only supermassive black holes are able to provide the energy to power quasars. Yet quasars can outshine their entire galaxies. ibid.
Quasars with jets are a very rare species as only 10% have them and no-one really knows why. ibid.
Quasars appear to be denizens of the early universe. Alex Filippenko
Twinkle, twinkle, quasi-star
Biggest puzzle from afar
How unlike the other ones
Brighter than a billion suns
Twinkle, twinkle, quasi-star
How I wonder what you are. George Gamow, ‘Matter, Earth, and Sky’