James Webb Telescope Solves Cosmic Murder Mystery in 'Pablo's Galaxy' — and It Was a Black Hole Who Done It

James Webb telescope solves cosmic murder mystery in 'Pablo's Galaxy' — and it was a black hole who done it

A supermassive black hole embedded in an early galaxy likely starved the galaxy of gas needed to form young stars, new observations revealed.

A Massive Black Hole Starved Pablo’s Galaxy, Ending Its Star Formation

Astronomers using the James Webb Space Telescope and ALMA have uncovered how a massive black hole shut down star formation in Pablo’s Galaxy. Powerful winds expelled gas at hundreds of kilometres per second, leaving almost no cold fuel behind. The findings suggest many early galaxies did not die explosively, but were slowly starved by their central black holes in the young universe.

An ancient galaxy slowly starved by its own black hole

Astronomers have identified one of the oldest “dead” galaxies ever observed and discovered new evidence that supermassive black holes can quietly choke off star formation over time, rather than destroying galaxies in sudden, violent events The discovery shows us how massive galaxies in the early universe formed stars rapidly and then shut down surprisingly early. Using observations from the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) and the Atacama Large…