Blazar Definition
blāzär, -sär, -zər, -sər
noun
A compact, extremely bright, active galactic nucleus characterized by strong and rapid changes in the intensity of electromagnetic radiation emitted over a very broad range of frequencies ranging from radio waves to gamma rays. Although the source of blazar energy is the material surrounding a super-massive black hole at the galaxy center, much of the blazar luminosity originates in powerful jets of material moving along the line of sight toward Earth at near light speed.
American Heritage
Other Word Forms of Blazar
Noun
Singular:
blazar
Plural:
blazarsOrigin of Blazar
Coined by Edward A. Spiegel (1931–2010), American astronomer as a blend (influenced by blaze) of BL Lac object a type of blazar once thought to be a variable star (after BL Lacertae a blazar in Lacerta) and quasar
From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition
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