MP3 recording
Blazar Insanity (Words & Music by A. Marscher ©2016)
1. Blazars are crazy, so crazy they're driving me insane
I identify some patterns, then suddenly those patterns change
More data just make it worse, reasonable theories seem to be cursed
2. Blazars' flux varies on time-scales much too short
For flares on parsec scales that some observers report
It's so hard to figure out why. Can Doppler factors be ultra-high?
Bridge:
But this leads to total frustration
There's not a large enough parent population
And what about the seed photons? Gamma-rays need seed photons
Unless they're intense on parsec scales
My favorite model completely fails
3. Some superluminal knots coincide with gamma-ray flares
While others are gamma-ray dim no matter how long Fermi stares
Are they missing GeV electrons? Or are there too few seed photons?
End:
I'm trying to figure it out, we're all trying to figure it out
But the blazars are refusing to cooperate
Maybe they don’t want us to discover how they operate
And it's driving me insane! Causing mental pain
But I love them just the same, better wild than too tame
'Cause "blazar" is their name, so variability is their game
Still they're driving me insane [3 times]
Return to Alan Marscher's
songs page
Return to Alan
Marscher's personal page
Return to Blazar Group
home page