Overview
- Fresh Hubble imaging, backed by other observatories, shows powerful gas outflows and a highly shocked interstellar medium in NGC 1266.
- The lenticular galaxy in the constellation Eridanus sits about 100 million light-years away, and it is a rare post-starburst system.
- Astronomers tie its unusual state to a minor merger about 500 million years ago that sparked a brief starburst and fed the central black hole.
- As the nucleus turned active, its winds and jets likely stripped or shocked star-forming gas, which curtailed star birth outside the core.
- Because such post-starburst galaxies make up less than one percent nearby, NGC 1266 serves as a valuable case to study black hole–galaxy coevolution.