Distant 'quasar tsunamis' are ripping their own galaxies apart

[admin]

The winds and radiation blowing out of quasars — the most energetic objects in the universe — can kill star formation galaxy-wide, new research shows.

Distant 'quasar tsunamis' are ripping their own galaxies apart : Read more

 

[TorbjornLarsson]

The winds and radiation blowing out of quasars — the most energetic objects in the universe — can kill star formation galaxy-wide, new research shows.

Distant 'quasar tsunamis' are ripping their own galaxies apart : Read more

To put that i perspective, a sedate galaxy like Milky Way may form stars at a rate of 1 star/year, so loosing 100 times that much mass every year could stop star formation entirely. And the gas speed is ~1/10 of light speed in vacuum.

No wonder that these types of gas fountains - outflows balanced by gravitational fall back - are believed to regulate the star formation rate of galaxies towards a more smooth distribution. C.f. how Sun is 1/3 the universe age.