Found this in NatureAlert this morning.
Al.
Letter
Nature 442, 888-891(24 August 2006) | doi:10.1038/nature04934; Received 15 December 2005; Accepted 15 May 2006
Suppression of star formation in early-type galaxies by feedback from supermassive black holes
Kevin Schawinski
1, Sadegh Khochfar
1, Sugata Kaviraj
1, Sukyoung K. Yi
2, Alessandro Boselli
3, Tom Barlow
4, Tim Conrow
4, Karl Forster
4, Peter G. Friedman
4, D. Chris Martin
4, Patrick Morrissey
4, Susan Neff
5, David Schiminovich
6, Mark Seibert
4, Todd Small
4, Ted K. Wyder
4, Luciana Bianchi
7, Jose Donas
3, Tim Heckman
7, Young-Wook Lee
2, Barry Madore
8, Bruno Milliard
3, R. Michael Rich
9 and Alex Szalay
7
Detailed high-resolution observations of the innermost regions of nearby galaxies have revealed the presence of supermassive black holes1,2,3,4. These black holes may interact with their host galaxies by means of 'feedback' in the form of energy and material jets; this feedback affects the evolution of the host and gives rise to observed relations between the black hole and the host5. Here we report observations of the ultraviolet emissions of massive early-type galaxies. We derive an empirical relation for a critical black-hole mass (as a function of velocity dispersion) above which the outflows from these black holes suppress star formation in their hosts by heating and expelling all available cold gas. Supermassive black holes are negligible in mass compared to their hosts but nevertheless seem to play a critical role in the star formation history of galaxies.
Editor's Summary
24 August 2006
Galaxies versus black holes
Observations in the near-ultraviolet from the the GALEX satellite provide new data on the link between the formation of young stars in massive elliptical galaxies and the supermassive black holes thought to reside at their centres, where they may interact with their hosts by means of 'feedback' in the form of energy and material jets. The data provide constraints in a sophisticated computer model of galaxy evolution, and suggest that there is a critical supermassive black hole mass at which jets and outflows from the black hole become so powerful as to stop all gas accretion and further growth of the host galaxy.
