Wandering Meteor-Chapter 175 - 174: Quasar

In the Dark Universe.

A swirling nebula is rapidly rotating, with a pitch-black color at its center.

The edge of the nebula is vast, with a radius of half a light-year, emitting a faint glow and intense radiation; the light is dominated by a golden hue, accompanied by a mix of various colors. From a distance, it looks like a colorful giant cloud, extremely dazzling.

It was this scene that the scientists within the Wandering Star System had observed, prompting them to issue a warning.

These experienced scientists knew very well what the colorful giant cloud in front of them was: a quasar, one of the most terrifying celestial phenomena, not inferior to a black hole.

The reason quasars stand shoulder to shoulder with black holes

Is that at the heart of a quasar is a super black hole.

The super black hole at the center of the quasar uses its powerful gravity to capture surrounding objects, and when they reach a certain distance, it completely tears apart the captured objects, turning them into nebula material revolving around the central black hole. This extremely dense and complex layer of nebula material is known as the accretion disk.

Different from the black holes at the center of a celestial nebula.

For some unknown reason, quasars have not formed a stable system structure, named for their resemblance to both stars and nebulae, while black holes at the center of celestial nebulas have reached a balance with other small-mass bodies.

For example, the Galaxy Nebula or the merged Xianhe Nebula we know have a black hole at their center. Even though these black holes also absorb nearby material and form certain accretion disks, they are not as extreme as quasars.

Quasars will tear apart and absorb all captured objects, whether it is a galaxy or even a celestial nebula, none can escape its grip. This is the true reason why quasars are terrifying.

No principles, utmost chaos.

If one really had to compare quasars to celestial nebulas, then a celestial nebula is like a reasonable person, while a quasar is like an extreme madman.

Hence it can be said that quasars are the extreme madmen of the universe.

Anybody encountering them must keep a wide berth, unless one possesses the strength to confront a quasar’s civilization.

As a Celestial Civilization that has wandered in the universe for so long, Lu Chen naturally knows the terror of quasars. Therefore, upon receiving the scientists’ warning, he gave it immediate attention and carefully sensed and observed the situation ahead.

Afterward, Lu Chen became very grave.

Noticing Lu Chen’s change, Wandering asked with seriousness, "Big brother, what’s wrong? Is that quasar a Celestial Civilization?"

Lu Chen said, "I can sense the presence of Intention, it is indeed a Celestial Civilization."

"Generally speaking, only a Celestial Civilization would deliberately absorb material to grow itself, so quasars are basically Celestial Civilizations. When I previously wandered out from the Cosmic Center, I also encountered several, thankfully they were far enough away to avoid them."

Green Star, since joining the Wandering Alliance and forming a life community, has had more exchanges: "Never thought we’d encounter a quasar, now we’re in trouble."

Lu Chen said, "Indeed, it’s a bit troublesome, but with our speed, we should be able to escape the quasar’s Gravity. I hope we can just quietly fly by its side without attracting the quasar’s attention."

The reason Lu Chen said "should" is because although a black hole’s gravity can capture photons with a strength of 300,000, it does not mean that the limit of black hole gravity is only 300,000. If the black hole’s gravity reaches an intensity of 600,000, it could still capture them flying at twice the speed of light.

However, this possibility is not great.

Therefore, Lu Chen wasn’t too worried. Besides, the two biological civilizations within the Wandering Alliance had both reached the third level, which could also be considered a third-level life community.

With their technological strength, even facing a quasar wouldn’t leave them without the power to fight. However, Lu Chen didn’t want to waste energy and time on this, so of course, it would be best to avoid if possible.

Immediately, Lu Chen instructed them to put the entire Wandering Alliance on alert, minimize their own entropy value, and block all kinds of electromagnetic radiation, to avoid detection by the quasar ahead.

Under normal circumstances, the massive mass of the Wandering Star System would certainly not escape the perception of a Quasar-level Celestial Civilization.

However, the current situation was somewhat special. The quasar was frenziedly tearing and absorbing the material of the accretion disk within half a light-year radius. Compared to the high density of the accretion disk, the mass and size of the Wandering Star System was negligible, offering a chance to slip through unnoticed.

The absorption of material from the accretion disk is not instantaneous; there is a process. For instance, the torn materials mix together to form high-density nebulous clumps, rapidly revolving around the central black hole of the quasar, slowly approaching the black hole during the rotation, and eventually falling into the black hole to become a part of it.

The light emitted from the quasar is the result of these nebulous clumps creating friction while moving at high speeds. Since they have not yet truly fallen into the black hole, the photons generated from the friction can escape at the speed of light, to be eventually observed by civilizations in the universe.

However, the alert issued by the Earth Civilization’s scientists was not observed through electromagnetic waves, but rather utilized a brand-new superluminal observation device.

Lu Chen from Constant Star had already initiated research on this project by Earth Civilization and the Light Synthesis Civilization.

Because in the vast universe, relying solely on light reception for observation is too passive. After all, the universe is so huge that light can only travel a distance of one light-year in a year, making the information delay and limitations too significant.

Hence, in the cosmic era, superluminal detectors are essential.

Previously, however, research in this area had made no progress, but as the two civilizations advanced to the third level and further understood the nature of space, the superluminal detector came into being.

Although the name superluminal detector includes the word "light," its detection principle is not the reception of electromagnetic waves.

Instead, it uses the most advanced space shock wave sensing technology.

As is known, space is the foundation for the existence of matter, and the mass of matter can cause certain distortions or warping of space, so any mass will distort space, even photons in motion are no exception, only the degree of distortion varies.

Therefore, if one could detect the micro shockwaves of space distortion and then determine the source’s mass and speed based on the extent of the micro shockwaves, the super-computer could then calculate and synthesize this to reveal the distribution of objects in the surrounding space.

And because the speed of space shock sensing is superluminal.

This is why superluminal detectors can detect surrounding matter faster than through light reception.

However, due to technical limitations, the detection range of the superluminal detector is currently only about ten light-years. Beyond ten light-years, the shock sensations become weak and unpredictable, making the detection results less accurate.

In fact, the principle of the superluminal detector is the same as the principle used by Celestial Civilizations to sense the external world.

Biological life observes the world through the reception of electromagnetic waves, while Celestial life, more advanced, does so by sensing space shock waves.

However, even Lu Chen didn’t fully understand the principle before, just as bats use ultrasonic detection without knowing the science behind it. It seems to be an instinct of Celestial Civilizations, and it was only after some of the mysteries of space were unraveled that Lu Chen came to understand.

Therefore, Lu Chen also instructed a scientific team to start researching the existence, method of survival, and even the cause of birth of Celestial Civilizations.

Putting this scientific project aside for now, it definitely won’t yield results in a short time.

But speaking of the current situation, in order to avoid detection by the quasar, Lu Chen had already put the entire Wandering Alliance on alert. However, often things do not go according to one’s wishes, and a sudden change ahead brought about a shift in the situation!