Herschel has discovered massive elliptical galaxies in the nearby Universe containing plenty of cold gas, even though the galaxies fail to produce new stars. Comparison with other data suggests that, while hot gas cools down in these galaxies, stars do not form because jets from the central supermassive black hole heat or stir up the gas and prevent it from turning into stars.
Selected coverage:
- Bullying black holes force galaxies to stay red and dead (Astronomy.com)
- Giant Black Holes May Stall Star Birth in 'Red and Dead' Galaxies (Space.com)
- Pushy Black Holes Stop Elliptical Galaxies From Forming Stars (Universe Today)
- Monster Black Holes Can Kill Galactic Star Formation (Discovery News)
- Black holes may shut down stellar factories (ScienceNews)
