BL Lacertae objects

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Related to BL Lacertae objects: Seyfert galaxy, Blazar, abl, quasar, ACBL

BL Lacertae objects

[¦bē¦el lə′ser·tē ‚äb·jiks]

(astronomy)

A class of extragalactic sources of extremely intense, highly variable electromagnetic radiation which are related to quasars but have a featureless optical spectrum, and display strong optical polarization and a radio spectrum that increases in intensity at shorter wavelengths.

References in periodicals archive ?

Nesci, "Spectral slope variability of BL Lacertae objects in the optical band," The Astrophysical Journal, vol.

Fu, "The optical microvariability and spectral changes of the BL Lacertae object S5 0716+714," The Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series, vol.

Long-Term Optical and Spectral Variability of FSRQ 3C454.3

The passage of stars across the line of sight to the quasar could account for the rapid brightness changes typically associated with BL Lacertae objects.

Ringing in an estimate of a galaxy's mass

Beyond our galaxy, at a distance of more than a billion light-years, the BL Lacertae object PKS 2155-304 radiates profusely across the spectrum from the visible to hard X-rays.