Source: ESO Science Release eso1206
Distant star-forming galaxies in the early Universe
Image credits: ESO, APEX (MPIfR/ESO/OSO),
A. Weiss et al., NASA Spitzer Science Center
Using the APEX telescope, a team of astronomers has found the strongest link so far between the most powerful bursts of star formation in the early Universe, and the most massive galaxies found today. The galaxies, flowering with dramatic starbursts in the early Universe, saw the birth of new stars abruptly cut short, leaving them as massive — but passive — galaxies of aging stars in the present day. The astronomers also have a likely culprit for the sudden end to the starbursts: the emergence of supermassive black holes. (read more)
