Until now, astronomers have always assumed that only black holes with strong radiation stop star formation from within the galaxy. This is because these black holes blow away gas, which is the building block for stars. The question, however, is whether galaxies without strongly radiating black holes are also inhibited in their growth.
An international team of astronomers led by JIVE postdoc has discovered that even a weak jet stream from a low-active black hole can be a kind of leaf blower to clean parts of a galaxy. The observed black hole removes about 75% of the cold gas in the central regions of the galaxy in a few million years. This probably stops the formation of stars. Publication in Nature Astronomy on February 10, 2022, title “Cold gas removal from the centre of a galaxy by a low-luminosity jet”.
Read here the full article on the JIV-ERIC website.
Image: Four-step simulation of a black hole with a low energy radio jet that clears the centre of a galaxy like a leaf blower. There are 200,000 years between each image. © Mukherjee et al.