Astronomers have confirmed that supermassive black holes can deprive their host galaxies of the gas needed to form new stars, thanks to observations from the NASA/ESA James Webb Space Telescope (Webb). This discovery sheds light on how these cosmic giants contribute to galaxy evolution by halting star formation. A team led by researchers from the University of Cambridge used Webb to study a galaxy comparable in size to the Milky Way, existing about two billion years after the Big Bang. Like most large galaxies, this one contains a supermassive black hole at its core. However, this galaxy is ne…