Blazars

thumb|upright=1.5|The elliptical galaxy M87 emitting a relativistic jet, as seen by the [[Hubble Space Telescope. An active galaxy is classified as a blazar when its jet is pointing close to the line of sight. In the case of M87, because the angle between the jet and the line of sight is not small, its nucleus is not classified as a blazar, but rather as radio galaxy.]] A blazar (neologism of "BL Lacertae" and "Quasar") is an active galactic nucleus (AGN) with a relativistic jet – a jet composed of ionized matter traveling at nearly the speed of light – directed very nearly towards an observer

galaxy

active galactic nucleus with rapid and large-amplitude flux variability and significant optical polarization and with spectrum dominated by a featureless nonthermal emission continuum

active galaxy, prototype of the BL Lacertae objects

Closest Blazar to the Milky Way

type of highly variable quasar or subtype of blazar

Q0906+6930 was the most distant known blazar (redshift 5.47 / 12.2 billion light years) at the time of its discovery in July, 2004. The engine of the blazar is a supermassive black hole (SMBH) approximately 2 billion times the mass of the Sun (the mass of the Milky Way Galaxy is around 1.5 trillion solar masses). The event horizon volume is on the order of 1,000 times that of the Solar System. It is one of the most massive black holes on record.

galaxy with a spectrum extending to the highest gamma rays

Blazar