A team of astronomers and astrophysicists from around the globe have uncovered signs that the supermassive black holes in the hearts of many galaxies not only affect the distribution of stars in their own immediate surroundings but shape those of nearby galaxies as well.

By analyzing archival data on nearly 125,000 satellite galaxies circling tens of thousands of heavier masses, the team identified a link between the number of new stars being born in an orbiting cluster and its position.

"Surprisingly we found that the satellite galaxies formed more or fewer stars depending on their orientation with respect to the central galaxy," says astronomer Annalisa Pillepich from the Max Planck Institute for Astronomy.

"Just as with the observations, the Illustris-TNG simulation shows a clear modulation of the star formation rate in satellite galaxies depending on their position with respect to the central galaxy," says Pillepich.