Black Holes’ Fast-Moving Gas Clouds May Stifle Star Formation
Newfound clouds of gas that stream from gigantic black holes may dictate the pace of star formation in the galaxies around them and the growth of the black holes themselves, according to a new study.
These outflows of gas appear to feed on matter that would otherwise fall into an expanding supermassive black hole, halting its growth. As they travel outward, the clouds may also sweep away the raw materials that form new stars in a vast, roughly spherical area known as the galaxy’s bulge, slowing the pace of star formation in the process.
“They have the potential to play a major role in transmitting feedback effects from a black hole into the galaxy at large,” study leader Francesco Tombesi, from NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., said in a statement.
Most spiral galaxies, including our own Milky Way, are thought to contain supermassive black holes lurking in their centers.
