2024-09-30 19:40:04
At the end of the universe, in its infancy, astronomers have discovered a rare galaxy known as GS-10578. Although it is officially called GS-10578, researchers studying it have named it the “Pablo galaxy,” in honor of Pablo G. Pérez González, a researcher at the Center for Astrobiology (CAB) and our guest today on Talking with Scientists, who has been focusing on his research for years.
What makes this galaxy so interesting is its lack of activity in creating new stars. Most of the stars that inhabit GS-10578 were formed during the early stages of the universe, however, the creative activity has slowed to the point where new stars are now forming, an unmistakable sign of aging in a galaxy. This, which in an ordinary galaxy may be a normal regeneration process, in the case of the Pablo galaxy happened early in the history of the Universe. It was as if an old man appeared at the youth meeting.
The data collected by the James Webb Telescope has been instrumental in helping researchers discover the cause of this phenomenon. The telescope has revealed that, at the center of the galaxy, there is a large black hole that is influencing its surroundings. Supermassive black holes are common at the core of many stars, including our own Milky Way, but in this case, the black hole is ejecting a lot of gas and dust into outer space, the ingredients necessary for the formation of new stars. .
By stripping the galaxy of these elements, the black hole “starves” GS-10578, preventing new stars from forming.
This finding has important implications for our understanding of galaxy evolution. Black holes are known to play an important role in the development of stars, but the details of how they do so are still being investigated. The case of GS-10578 provides unique insight into how objects that concentrate the mass of millions of suns into a space consistent with the orbit of Venus can affect a galaxy’s ability to continue producing stars, especially at a speed of your age by removing it. the elements needed to maintain this important process.
This type of research is key to understanding the evolution of the universe and how clusters, which start forming active stars, can enter a phase of inactivity and aging due to interaction with black holes at their center.
I invite you to listen to Pablo G. Pérez González, researcher in the astrophysics department at the Astrobiology Center, a joint institution of the High Commission for Scientific Research (CSIC) and the National Institute of Aerospace Technology (WHEN).
References:
“A fast interstellar star destroyed by a supermassive black hole at z=3”, Francesco D’Eugenio, Pablo G. Pérez-González, et al., Nature Astronomy (2024). DOI: 10.1038/s41550-024-02345-1
#Cienciaes.com #black #hole #destroying #galaxy #spoke #Pablo #Pérez #González