A team of international researchers, co-led by the University of Cambridge, has used the powerful James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) to observe a galaxy from the early universe that is undergoing a dramatic transformation. Approximately the size of the Milky Way, this galaxy exists around two billion years after the Big Bang and hosts a supermassive black hole at its center. What makes this galaxy particularly interesting is that it is essentially dead—it has stopped forming new stars.
The galaxy, officially designated GS-10578 but nicknamed the Pablo Galaxy after a researcher involved in its detailed study, offers key insights into how black holes can influence galactic evolution. According to Dr. Francesco D’Eugenio from the Kavli Institute of Cosmology at Cambridge, early observations indicated that the galaxy was no longer actively forming stars, despite its significant size. While astronomers had long suspected a connection between black holes and the shutdown of star formation, they lacked the necessary data to confirm this relationship. Before Webb, we couldn’t study this galaxy in enough detail to confirm that link, nor did we know if this dormant state was temporary or permanent, D’Eugenio explained.
The Pablo Galaxy is remarkably massive for such an early point in the universe’s history. It has a mass of approximately 200 billion times that of our Sun, and most of its stars formed between 12.5 and 11.5 billion years ago. Typically, galaxies from this period are rapidly forming stars, which makes this discovery even more compelling. Professor Roberto Maiolino, another member of the research team from the Kavli Institute, highlighted that this suggests the process that halted star formation must have occurred relatively quickly. For such a massive galaxy to stop forming stars so early in the universe is unusual.
Through the advanced capabilities of the Webb Telescope, the researchers found that the galaxy is ejecting large amounts of gas at incredible speeds—around 1,000 kilometers per second. These fast-moving winds are strong enough to overcome the gravitational pull of the galaxy. It turns out that the supermassive black hole at the center of the Pablo Galaxy is the driving force behind these winds, effectively starving the galaxy of the material it needs to form new stars. This phenomenon, known as feedback, refers to how energy and matter expelled by black holes can regulate, or in this case, terminate star formation.
The observations revealed a new component of these galactic winds that previous telescopes were unable to detect. This gas is cooler and denser than the hot gas often seen in such outflows, and it does not emit light, making it much harder to detect without Webb’s exceptional sensitivity. The cooler gas clouds block some of the light coming from the galaxy, allowing Webb to identify their presence.
The amount of gas being expelled is greater than what the galaxy needs to sustain star formation, confirming that the black hole is playing an active role in stifling the creation of new stars. We found the culprit, D’Eugenio remarked. The black hole is killing this galaxy and keeping it dormant by cutting off the ‘food’ it needs to form new stars.
Theoretical models had long predicted that supermassive black holes could have this kind of dramatic impact on galaxies, but direct evidence had been elusive until the advent of the Webb Telescope. Previous theories also suggested that the cessation of star formation would lead to violent disturbances in a galaxy’s structure, but the stars in the Pablo Galaxy still move in an orderly fashion, showing that this may not always be the case.
Further observations are planned with the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) to investigate the colder and darker gas components in the galaxy. These studies will reveal whether any remaining fuel for star formation is hidden within the galaxy and provide a clearer understanding of the black hole’s impact on its surrounding environment.
SOURCES
D’Eugenio, F., Pérez-González, P.G., Maiolino, R. et al. A fast-rotator post-starburst galaxy quenched by supermassive black-hole feedback at z = 3. Nat Astron (2024). doi.org/10.1038/s41550-024-02345-1
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