Massive black holes spewing out radio-frequency-emitting particles at near-light speed can block formation of new stars in aging galaxies, a study has found.
The research provides crucial new evidence that it is these jets of “radio-frequency feedback” streaming from mature galaxies’ central black holes that prevent hot free gas from cooling and collapsing into baby stars.
“When you look into the past history of the universe, you see these galaxies building stars,” said Tobias Marriage, assistant professor of physics and astronomy at Johns Hopkins and co-lead author of the study. “At some point, they stop forming stars and the question is: Why? Basically, these active black holes give a reason for why stars stop forming in the universe.”
Read the full press release from Johns Hopkins University