http://insciences.org/article.php?article_id=8483&utm_source=feedburner&...

Scientists have found evidence of a “catastrophic event” they believe was responsible for halting the birth of stars in a galaxy in the early Universe.

The researchers, led by Durham University’s Department of Physics, observed the massive galaxy as it would have appeared just three billion years after the Big Bang when the Universe was a quarter of its present age.

According to their findings the galaxy exploded in a series of blasts trillions of times more powerful than any caused by an atomic bomb. The blasts happened every second for millions of years, the scientists said.

The explosions scattered the gas needed to form new stars by helping it escape the gravitational pull of the galaxy called SMM J1237+6203, effectively regulating its growth, the scientists added.

They believe the huge surge of energy was caused by either the outflow of debris from the galaxy’s black hole or from powerful winds generated by dying stars called supernovae.

The research, funded by the Royal Society and the Royal Astronomical Society, is published in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. Observations were carried out using the Gemini Observatory’s Near-Infrared Integral Field Spectrometer (NIFS).