Supermassive black holes are believed to reside in the hearts of all large galaxies. When gas falls upon these monsters, the materials are accelerated and heated around the black hole, releasing great torrents of energy. In the process, active black holes oftentimes generate colossal jets that blast out twin streams of heated matter.
Inflows of gas into a galaxy also fuel the formation of new stars. In a new study of distant galaxies, Herschel helped show that star formation and black hole activity increase together, but only up to a point. Astronomers think that if an active black hole flares up too much, it starts spewing radiation that prevents raw material from coalescing into new stars. (See Full HerMES Press Release)
Press Release:
- HerMES
- ESA
- NASA
- Herschel UK
Nature Publication:
- Page et al. (2012) Nature 485, 213,"The suppression of star formation by powerful active galactic nuclei"
- Free Supplementary Information (423K): this file contains Supplementary Text and Data, Supplementary Tables 1-2, Supplementary Figures 1-5 and Supplementary References
Contacts:
Dr Ismael Pérez Fournon
Co-Investigator SPIRE and HerMES
Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias
Email: ipf [@] iac.es
Tel: +34 922 605 257
Dr Mat Page
Mullard Space Science Laboratory
University College London
Email: mjp [@] mssl.ucl.ac.uk
Tel: +44 (0)1483 204283
Prof Seb Oliver
HerMES coordinator
University of Sussex
Email: S.Oliver [@] sussex.ac.uk
Tel: +44 (0)1273 678852 +44 (0)1273
Prof Matt Griffin
SPIRE Principal Investigator
Cardiff University
Email: matt.griffin [@] astro.cf.ac.uk
Tel: +44 (0)29 2087 4203
Madeleine Russell
Press Officer
UK Space Agency
Email: madeleine.russell [@] ukspaceagency.bis.gsi.gov.uk
Tel: +44 (0)1793 418069
