Chapter 1: Introduction

• The universe is like a vast empty ocean with islands of galaxies

  • Only a small fraction of atoms are found in galaxies

  • Rest of the atoms are drifting in the intergalactic medium

  • Hydrogen and helium are the raw materials of creation

• Quasars are the most powerful objects in existence

  • Reside in the centers of some galaxies

  • Shine with the power of a trillion stars

  • Blast out huge jets of matter

  • Can kill a galaxy

• Quasars emit radio waves and move extremely fast

Chapter 2: Supermassive Black Holes

• Quasars are not stars, but the active cause of galaxies billions of light years away

• Quasars are thousands of times brighter than the entire Milky Way

• Over a million quasars have been discovered

• Quasars were common in the early universe

• Quasars are powered by supermassive black holes

  • Black holes trap anything that crosses their event horizon

  • The light of quasars comes from the space around black holes

  • Quasars have an accretion disk of gas

  • Black holes convert matter into energy more efficiently than stars

Chapter 3: Supermassive Black Hole

• Quasars use matter as fuel to shine

• Matter falling into a black hole releases energy from gravity

• Quasars form from matter spiraling into the event horizon

• Quasars release more energy than all the stars in a galaxy combined

Chapter 4: The Brightest Quasars

• Quasars consume large amounts of gas

• Quasars in the early universe had a dense intergalactic medium to feed on

• Brightest quasars power jets that launch enormous beams of matter

• Quasars can only last for a few million years

• Quasars can stop star formation in their galaxies