Supermassive Black Hole Jet Halts Star Birth in Distant 'Red Potato' Galaxy as Andromeda's Star Formation Slows

Astronomers using the Chandra X‑ray telescope have identified a powerful jet from a supermassive black hole in the distant galaxy MQN01 J004131.9‑493704, nicknamed “Red Potato”. The jet heats and stirs the surrounding gas, potentially suppressing the formation of new stars. Lead researcher Weichen Wang of the University of Milan‑Bocca said, “Stars do not form as we thought, so we set out to find out why.” Team member Sebastiano Cantalupo added that the heated gas could “significantly slow the rate of new matter accretion, which enables young star formation.”

In a separate study, a team led by Tobin M. Wainer of the University of Washington mapped star‑formation activity across the Andromeda Galaxy (M31). Their analysis shows a clear decline in star‑forming rates over the past 500 million years, dropping from about one solar mass per year to roughly half that value. The slowdown is most pronounced outside the prominent 10 kpc ring, suggesting Andromeda is entering a final quiescent phase after a historically active period.

Both investigations highlight how internal processes—such as black‑hole feedback in early‑universe galaxies and the natural aging of spiral disks—can regulate star formation across cosmic time.