In the universe’s most massive galaxies, active galactic nucleus (AGN) feedback appears to limit star formation. The accumulation of cold gas near the central black hole fuels powerful AGN outbursts, keeping the ambient medium in a state marginally unstable to condensation and formation of cold gas clouds. However, the ability of that mechanism to self-regulate may depend on numerous environmental factors, including the depth of the potential well and the pressure of the surrounding circumgalactic medium (CGM). Here we present a suite of numerical simulations, with halo mass ranging from 2 × 1012
Observations and simulations have demonstrated that star formation in galaxies must be actively suppressed to prevent the formation of overly massive galaxies. Galactic outflows driven by stellar feedback or supermassive black hole accretion are often invoked to regulate the amount of cold molecular gas available for future star formation but may not be the only relevant quenching processes in all galaxies. We present the discovery of vast molecular tidal features extending up to 64 kpc outside of a massive
- NSF-PAR ID:
- 10370339
- Publisher / Repository:
- DOI PREFIX: 10.3847
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- The Astrophysical Journal Letters
- Volume:
- 936
- Issue:
- 1
- ISSN:
- 2041-8205
- Format(s):
- Medium: X Size: Article No. L11
- Size(s):
- ["Article No. L11"]
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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