Gravitational energy is the energy associated with the gravitational field. This phrase is found frequently in scientific writings about quasars (quasi-stellar objects) and other active galaxies. Quasars generate and emit their energy from a very small region. The emission of large amounts of power from a small region requires a power source far more efficient than the nuclear fusion that powers stars. The release of gravitational energy by matter falling towards a massive black hole is the only process known that can produce such high power continuously. Stellar explosions – supernovas and gamma-ray bursts – can do so, but only for a few weeks.
Read more about Gravitational Energy: Newtonian Mechanics, General Relativity
Famous quotes containing the word energy:
“The persons who constitute the natural aristocracy, are not found in the actual aristocracy, or, only on its edge; as the chemical energy of the spectrum is found to be greatest just outside of the spectrum.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)