8 results for: quasar
qua·sar
Audio Help [kwey-zahr, -zer, -sahr, -ser] Pronunciation Key
Audio Help [kwey-zahr, -zer, -sahr, -ser] Pronunciation Key –noun Astronomy.
| one of over a thousand known extragalactic objects, starlike in appearance and having spectra with characteristically large redshifts, that are thought to be the most distant and most luminous objects in the universe. |
Also called quasi-stellar object.
[Origin: 1960–65; quas(i-stell)ar, in quasi-stellar radio source, the first type of quasar discovered
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] | Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006. |
quasar
To learn more about quasar visit Britannica.com
| © 2008 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. |
| qua·sar
Audio Help (kwā'zär', -sär', -zər, -sər) Pronunciation Key
n. An extremely distant, and thus old, celestial object whose power output is several thousand times that of our entire galaxy. [quas(i-stellar) + (st)ar.] |
| The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. |
quasar
1964, from "quas(i-stell)ar radio source" (1963).
| Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper |
| quasar | |
noun | |
| a starlike object that may send out radio waves and other forms of energy; many have large red shifts |
| WordNet® 3.0, © 2006 by Princeton University. |
quasar [ˈkweisaː] noun
a star-like object which gives out light and radio waves
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| Kernerman English Multilingual Dictionary (Beta Version), © 2000-2006 K Dictionaries Ltd. |
| quasar
Audio Help (kwā'zär') Pronunciation Key
Short for quasi-stellar radio source. A compact, starlike celestial body with a power output greater than our entire galaxy. Believed to be the oldest and most distant objects ever detected, quasars are billions of light-years from Earth and moving away from us at nearly 80 percent of the speed of light. For this reason, quasars are highly important to astronomers' understanding of the early universe. Little is currently understood about the nature of quasars; one theory suggests that they are produced by giant black holes destroying enormous amounts of matter, causing the subsequent ejection of radiation along their north and south poles. Many astronomers believe that quasars represent an early stage in the evolution of galaxies such as our own. See also blazar, Seyfert galaxy. |
| The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2002 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. |
| quasar quasi-stellar object |
| The American Heritage® Abbreviations Dictionary, Third Edition Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. |
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