Quasar radiation transforms the gas in a merging companion galaxy.

Abstract

Quasars, powered by gas accretion onto supermassive black holes^1,2, rank among the most energetic objects in the Universe^3,4. Although they are thought to be ignited by galaxy mergers^5-11 and affect the surrounding gas^12-15, observational constraints on both processes remain scarce^16-18. Here we describe a major merging system at redshift z ≈ 2.7 and demonstrate that radiation from the quasar in one galaxy directly alters the gas properties in the other galaxy. Our findings reveal that the galaxies, with centroids separated by only a few kiloparsecs and approaching each other at a speed of approximately 550 km s^-1, are massive, are forming stars and contain a substantial molecular mass. Yet, dusty molecular gas seen in absorption against the quasar nucleus is highly excited and confined within cloudlets with densities of approximately 10⁵ to 10⁶ cm^-3 and sizes of less than 0.02 pc, several orders of magnitude more compact than those observed in intervening (non-quasar) environments. This is also approximately 10⁵ times smaller than currently resolvable through molecular-line emission at high redshifts. We infer that, wherever it is exposed to the quasar radiation, the molecular gas is disrupted, leaving behind surviving dense clouds too small to give birth to new stars. Our results not only underscore the role of major galaxy mergers in triggering quasar activity but also reveal localized negative feedback as a profound alteration of the internal gas structure, which probably hampers star formation.