While black holes have been known tokill individual stars, destruction on this scale is unprecedented.
The discovery could have huge implications for our understanding of what happens to galaxies as they age.
The astronomers reached this stark conclusion after observing a galaxy called GS-10578, nicknamed Pablos Galaxy.
Image of Pablo’s Galaxy compiled using data from the James Webb Space Telescope.© Cambridge University/JWST
The massive clouds of gas are being expelled thanks to the force of a supermassive black hole.
This measurement alone wasnt groundbreaking.
The force of black holes often leads to galaxies expelling hot gas.
But the JWST detected a second throw in of gas, which was colder and denser.
Using those measurements, they deduced that these winds contained the materials necessary to feed star formation.
When they compared the outflow of matter to the star formation rate, they found the outflow was larger.
But Pablos Galaxy shows no signs of that kind of turbulence.
The existing stars are still going about their orbits as usual.
There are still big questions left to answer as to why Pablos Galaxy has defied expectations.
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