A new study published in the journal Science found that a supermassive black hole two billion light years away is emitting winds powerful enough to stop star formation.
NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, along with the European Space Agency, found that the black hole, PDS 456, is blowing powerful winds in all directions. Previously, scientists hadn't proved a black hole was capable of doing so.
NASA notes that the discovery is astronomers' first chance to measure the winds' strength and prove they can stop the host galaxy from making new stars. The winds PDS 456 emits carry more energy per second than a trillion suns would emit, according to NASA. As the black hole sucks matter in, the winds emitted reduce the galaxy's gas supply, which is necessary for star formation.
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