Matt Shepherd, age 14, of Hutchinson, Kan., for his question:

HOW DOES A QUASAR GENERATE SO MUCH POWER?

A quasar is a galaxy that gives off enormous amounts of power from its central area. Quasars radiate this energy in the form of light and radio waves. The word "quasar" is a shortened form of the term `quasi stellar radio source.`A quasar releases about 100,000 billion times as much energy as does the sun.

Astronomers do not know how a quasar generates so much power. Some believe the energy results from collisions between fast moving stars in the central part of a quasar. Others suggest the source is exploding stars called supernovae.

Quasars were first observed less than 30 years ago in 1960 by a group of astronomers working at Palomar Observatory near San Diego, Calif. By the late 1970s, scientists had discovered about 500 quasars.

Quasars are the most distant objects in the universe that can be seen by human beings.