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<p>The James Webb Space Telescope is discovering increasing numbers of quiescent galaxies 1–2 billion years after the Big Bang, whose redshift, high mass and old stellar ages indicate that their formation and quenching were surprisingly rapid. This fast-paced evolution seems to require that feedback from active galactic nuclei be faster and/or more efficient than previously expected. We present deep Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) observations of cool molecular gas (the fuel for star formation) in a massive, fast-rotating, quiescent galaxy at <i>z</i> = 3.064, GS-10578. This galaxy hosts an active galactic nucleus, driving neutral-gas outflows with a mass-outflow rate of 60 ± 20 <i>M</i><sub>⊙</sub> yr<sup>−1</sup>, and it has a star-formation rate of &lt;5.6 <i>M</i><sub>⊙</sub> yr<sup>−1</sup>. Our data reveal this system to be a distant gas-poor galaxy confirmed with direct CO observations (molecular-gas mass &lt;10<sup>9.1</sup> <i>M</i><sub>⊙</sub>; &lt;0.8% of its stellar mass). Combining Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array and James Webb Space Telescope observations, we estimate the gas consumption history of this galaxy, showing that it evolved with net-zero gas inflow, that is, the gas consumption by star formation matches the amount of gas this galaxy is missing relative to star-forming galaxies. This could arise both from preventative feedback stopping further gas inflow, which would otherwise refuel star formation or, alternatively, from fine-tuned ejective feedback matching precisely gas inflows. These results show that galaxy quenching is a long-term effect rather than due to a rapid single quasar episode.</p>

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Measurement of the gas consumption history of a massive quiescent galaxy

  • 期刊论文

  • 发表日期：

    2026年1月12日

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  • Jan Scholtz,
  • Francesco D’Eugenio,
  • Roberto Maiolino,
  • Pablo G. Pérez-González,
  • Chiara Circosta,
  • Sandro Tacchella,
  • Christina C. Williams,
  • Stacey Alberts,
  • Santiago Arribas,
  • William M. Baker,
  • Elena Bertola,
  • Andrew J. Bunker,
  • Stefano Carniani,
  • Stephane Charlot,
  • Giovanni Cresci,
  • Gareth C. Jones,
  • Nimisha Kumari,
  • Isabella Lamperti,
  • Tobias J. Looser,
  • Bruno Rodríguez Del Pino,
  • Brant Robertson,
  • Eleonora Parlanti,
  • Michele Perna,
  • Hannah Übler,
  • Giacomo Venturi,
  • Joris Witstok

摘要

The James Webb Space Telescope is discovering increasing numbers of quiescent galaxies 1–2 billion years after the Big Bang, whose redshift, high mass and old stellar ages indicate that their formation and quenching were surprisingly rapid. This fast-paced evolution seems to require that feedback from active galactic nuclei be faster and/or more efficient than previously expected. We present deep Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) observations of cool molecular gas (the fuel for star formation) in a massive, fast-rotating, quiescent galaxy at z = 3.064, GS-10578. This galaxy hosts an active galactic nucleus, driving neutral-gas outflows with a mass-outflow rate of 60 ± 20 M⊙ yr−1, and it has a star-formation rate of <5.6 M⊙ yr−1. Our data reveal this system to be a distant gas-poor galaxy confirmed with direct CO observations (molecular-gas mass <109.1 M⊙; <0.8% of its stellar mass). Combining Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array and James Webb Space Telescope observations, we estimate the gas consumption history of this galaxy, showing that it evolved with net-zero gas inflow, that is, the gas consumption by star formation matches the amount of gas this galaxy is missing relative to star-forming galaxies. This could arise both from preventative feedback stopping further gas inflow, which would otherwise refuel star formation or, alternatively, from fine-tuned ejective feedback matching precisely gas inflows. These results show that galaxy quenching is a long-term effect rather than due to a rapid single quasar episode.