Understanding Blazars: Black Hole Powered Galaxies [VIDEO]

NASA observations have identified that blazars - the highest-energy type of active galaxy in the universe - can run off of two unusual types of massive black holes that appear to collect gas, only to fire some of it out in jet streams that almost approach the speed of light.

According to observational data from NASA's Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope, some active galaxies in the universe are centered around highly luminous cores that are essentially "powered" by supermassive black holes that for some reason emit light and energy in intense jets of collected gases.

Past information from the Fermi's Large Area Telescope (FLAT) has revealed that the Earth is in-fact "looking down the barrel" of one of these jets, explaining why blazar borne gamma rays dominate more than half of all rays detected by the FLAT.

However, even with our front-row-seats to this remarkable pehnominon, scientists understand very little about blazars.

According researchers presenting their latest findings about blazars at the American Astronomical Society meeting in Boston on Tuesday, two very distinct kinds of blazars may in fact be different stages of the unusual black-holes' life cycle.

"We can think of one blazar class as a gas-guzzling car and the other as an energy-efficient electric vehicle," said lead researcher Marco Ajello in a NASA release. "Our results suggest that we're actually seeing hybrids, which tap into the energy of their black holes in different ways as they age."

[Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center]

According to these latest findings, in one stage of the blazar life, the supermassive black hole guzzles gasses from all over the universe (often created by colliding galaxies as the universe continues to expand) at an astounding rate. The resulting pull creates a fast-moving and heated disk of gas, which circles the blazar. The blazar also begins to spew concentrated gas and radiation from its center, creating what can be described as a spindle for the gas disk.

However, eventually, the gas disk begins to deplete, and the rate at which the blazar burns through gas supplies begins to recede. This marks a new stage for the black hole, where it draws in small amounts of gas and yet still releases an incredibly powerful jet - appearing to be more efficient than younger blazars.

Now the researchers theorize that this is not actually the case. In reality, they argue, the balck hole is working almost like a gas battery, conserving gasses from early consumption for later expulsion when free-floating gas supplies have diminished.

These findings were published in the astronomical journal IOP Science.