Black holes may slowly starve galaxies by cutting off their fuel.

Astronomers using JWST and ALMA observed GS-10578 (nicknamed Pablo's Galaxy) about 10.8 billion light years away and found it nearly lacking in cold gas, while JWST spectroscopy detected winds around 400 km/s removing roughly 60 solar masses of gas per year; these results point to the galaxy's central black hole shutting off its supply of star-forming fuel.

Astronomers report that observations with the James Webb Space Telescope and the Atacama Large Millimetre Array have captured a distant galaxy that appears to be fading after losing its star-forming fuel. The galaxy, catalogued as GS-10578 and nicknamed Pablo's Galaxy, lies about 10.8 billion light years away and formed most of its stars early in cosmic history. Researchers find the galaxy now lacks the cold gas needed to make new stars while showing energetic winds from its central supermassive black hole. Key observations: - Location and history: GS-10578 (Pablo's Galaxy) is about 10.8 billion light years away and formed most of its stars between roughly 12.5 and 11.5 billion years ago. - Cold gas absence: Deep ALMA observations failed to detect expected carbon monoxide, indicating the galaxy is nearly devoid of the cold gas that fuels star formation. - Outflows measured: JWST spectroscopy detected winds of about 400 kilometres per second carrying an estimated ~60 solar masses of gas per year. - Structure: JWST imaging shows the galaxy rotating calmly as a disc, with no clear signs of recent violent mergers. Summary: These findings are reported as evidence that the galaxy's supermassive black hole has been limiting the inflow of fresh gas, allowing the system to exhaust its existing reserves rather than being disrupted in a single dramatic event. Undetermined at this time.