What's in a Name?

Quasars are very brilliant, very distant astronomical objects which emit enormous amounts of energy in the form of light and radio waves. The word 'Quasar' is derived from the term QUAsi StellAr Radio Sources. Quasars are thinly scattered in the Universe, and light from the most distant of them will have taken 10 million years to reach Earth, so that its life may well have ended in the interim. First discovered in 1964 their existence supports the 'Big Bang' theory of the formation of the Universe. Quasars tend to be around 10 light years in diameter, each emitting the equivalent of 10,000 billion stars. Put in everyday language:
The total energy emitted by a single Quasar in one second would supply the World's present electrical energy needs for ONE BILLION YEARS !!