NEW evidence that the largest black holes can have a catastrophic effect on their surrounding galaxies has been discovered by a team of astronomers led by Durham University.

Using a combination of 27 radio telescopes in New Mexico, they found surprisingly energetic activity in what they otherwise considered a "boring" galaxy.

The astronomers saw the galaxy as it was 1.1bn years ago –the time it takes for light and radio waves emitted from it to reach the Earth.

Lead-author Chris Harrison, of the centre for extragalactic astronomy at Durham University said: "It appears that a supermassive black hole is explosively heating and blasting around the gas in this galaxy and is transforming it from an actively star-forming galaxy into one devoid of gas that can no longer form stars.”

The discovery may help to explain the difference between two types of galaxy - spirals, like our own Milky Way, which are rich in gas and actively forming stars, and ellipticals, which are gas-poor and have very little star formation.

This latest insight into supermassive black holes was the result of observations of a galaxy labelled J1430+1339, also known as the "Teacup", because of its appearance. The galaxy had been identified as having characteristics typical of galaxies with a central black hole actively consuming material.

The observations showed that the galaxy has "bubbles" extending from 30,000 to 40,000 light-years on each side of its core, along with smaller jet-like structures, about 2,000 light-years in size. These jet-like structures are located at the position where visible-light observations indicate gas is being accelerated to speeds up to about 1,000 kilometres per second.

The Durham team worked with a team of astronomers from the UK, the USA, and Chile.