Large galaxies stopped growing 7 billion years ago

(PhysOrg.com) -- Galaxies are thought to develop by the gravitational attraction between and merger of smaller 'sub-galaxies', a process that standard cosmological ideas suggest should be ongoing. But new data from a team of scientists from Liverpool John Moores University directly challenges this idea, suggesting that the growth of some of the most massive objects stopped 7 billion years ago when the Universe was half its present age. On Monday 18 April team member Claire Burke will present their work at the Royal Astronomical Society's National Astronomy Meeting (NAM 2011) in Llandudno, Wales.

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