(The Gist of PIB) Blazar [MAY-2020]

(The Gist of PIB) Blazar

Researchers from the Indian Institute of Astrophysics (IIA), Bangalore, an autonomous institute of the Department of Science and Technology have conducted the first systematic study on the gamma-ray flux variability nature on different types of blazars.

At the center of most galaxies, there’s a massive black hole that can have a mass of millions or even billions of Suns that accrete gas, dust, and stellar debris around it.
As these materials fall towards the black hole, their gravitational energy gets converted to light forming active galactic nuclei (AGN). A minority of AGN (~15%) emit collimated charged particles called jets traveling at speeds close to the speed of light.
Blazars are AGN whose jets are aligned with the observer’s line of sight. Some blazars are thought to host binary black holes in them and could be potential targets for future gravitational-wave searches.