Black hole jet may stir gas cloud around early 'red potato' galaxy
This digest was compiled by AI from multiple sources — links to the originals are below.
A black hole jet may be stirring a gas cloud around a galaxy nicknamed the 'red potato' in the early universe, according to a study in Astronomy & Astrophysics using NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory. The turbulence could prevent the galaxy from forming stars at the expected rate. The red potato galaxy, located 11.7 billion light-years away, lacks the young stars seen in similar galaxies.
The Missing Star Formation
Data from the European Southern Observatory's Very Large Telescope show the red potato galaxy is surrounded by a massive cloud of relatively cold gas. Astronomers expected this gas to fuel vigorous star formation, as seen in nearby galaxies with similar gas reservoirs. However, the red potato galaxy lacks the expected young stars, prompting a search for the cause. 'Stars are not forming like we thought they would, so we went searching for the reason why,' said lead author Weichen Wang of the University of Milan-Bicocca.
Turbulence and the Jet
The gas cloud around the red potato galaxy is unusually turbulent compared to other galaxies' gas clouds. Using Chandra, the team discovered a jet of particles from a black hole in a neighboring galaxy, located about 200,000 light-years away, pointed toward the red potato's gas cloud. This jet may be striking the cloud and causing the turbulence. Co-author Sebastiano Cantalupo explained that the stirring could 'greatly slow down how quickly the galaxy can acquire new, fresh material to form stars.'
Contrasting Neighbors
While the red potato galaxy contains mostly older, cooler stars and appears red in optical and infrared data, the galaxy hosting the black hole jet is actively forming stars, including massive, hot stars. Most other nearby galaxies also show vigorous star formation. The red potato galaxy sits at an intersection of cosmic web-like structures, where the heaviest concentrations of galaxies and growing supermassive black holes in the early universe have been identified.
What's Next
Further observations with Chandra and Webb are planned to confirm the jet's role in stirring the gas cloud. It remains unclear whether the turbulence will permanently suppress star formation or if the galaxy will eventually recover.
1 source
Black hole jet may stir gas cloud around early 'red potato' galaxy
