Markarian 421
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Markarian 421 is a blazar located in the constellation Ursa Major. The object is an active galaxy and a BL Lacertae object, and is a large source of gamma rays. At a distance of 360 million light years it is one of the closest blazars to Earth, making it one of the brightest quasars in the night sky. It is suspected to have a supermassive black hole at its center due to its active nature, and has a companion galaxy that is fueling the gas jets observed pointing away from the galaxy.
Markarian 421 is an intensely studied object by astrophysicists. Due to its brightness (around 13.3 magnitude) the object can also be viewed by amateurs in smaller telescopes.
[edit] External links
- The Markarian 421 on the WikiSky: DSS2, SDSS, IRAS, Hidrogen α, X-Ray, Astrophoto, Sky Map
- SEDS Page on Markarian 421
- Focus on Markarian 421
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