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How Galaxies Die: New insights into the Quenching of Star Formation

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A new theory explains how black holes grow as a function of galaxy mass and eventually quench star formation in their host galaxies. The images on this graph, taken by the Sloan Digital Sky Survey, are of nearby galaxies at the present era chosen to represent galaxy evolution. The graph shows how the evolution of small, dense galaxies differs from that of larger, more diffuse galaxies. The denser galaxies have larger black holes for their mass and therefore quench sooner, at a lower mass, whereas the more diffuse galaxies have smaller black holes for their mass and must grow more before quenching occurs. See larger image. (Credit: Sandra Faber/Sofia Quiros/SDSS)

Astronomers studying galaxy evolution have long struggled to understand what causes star formation to shut down in massive ga...

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