Massive black holes stop the creation of new stars
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Herschel’s image of Fomalhaut (Image: ESA)
Centaurus A: Far-infrared and X-rays as seen by Herschel (Image: ESA)
Artist's impression of ESA's Herschel satellite, designed to study the formation of galaxies and stars (Image: ESA/AOES Medialab)
View of the Cygnus-X star-formation region by Herschel (Image: ESA)
A composite X-ray/submillimeter image of the Chandra Deep Field North (Image: ESA/Herschel/HerMES; NASA/CSX)
Active black hole squashes star formation (Image: NASA/JPL-Caltech/R. Hurt)
Astronomers are suggesting that the radiation and winds from supermassive black holes at the center of galaxies halts star generation within the galaxy (Image: Shutterstock)
Article Summary
Just months ago, NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory discovered record 20 million mph winds nearby a supermassive black hole. Now astronomers working on ESA's Herschel Space Observatory are suggesting that such incredibly strong winds - whose speed depends on the size of the black hole - are preventing the gas and dust in galaxies from forming new stars, explaining the link between the size of a black hole and the rate at which new stars are formed.
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