Overview
- ALMA’s nearly seven-hour search detected no carbon monoxide, indicating an almost complete lack of cold, star-forming gas.
- JWST spectroscopy found neutral-gas outflows at about 400 km/s removing roughly 60 solar masses per year, implying fuel depletion in 16–220 million years.
- Reconstructed history shows star formation ceased around 400 million years earlier, consistent with repeated black-hole cycles blocking gas replenishment.
- The galaxy appears as a calm, rotating disc, disfavoring a recent major merger or a single explosive shutdown.
- The findings were published in Nature Astronomy on January 12, 2026, and the team received 6.5 additional JWST MIRI hours to probe warmer gas.