NGC 1266 is a nearby lenticular galaxy that harbors a massive outflow of molecular gas powered by the mechanical energy of an active galactic nucleus ( AGN ) .
It has been speculated that such outflows hinder star formation ( SF ) in their host galaxies , providing a form of feedback to the process of galaxy formation .
Previous studies , however , indicated that only jets from extremely rare , high power quasars or radio galaxies could impart significant feedback on their hosts .
Here we present detailed observations of the gas and dust continuum of NGC 1266 at millimeter wavelengths .
Our observations show that molecular gas is being driven out of the nuclear region at \dot { M } _ { out } \approx 110 ~ { } M _ { \odot } yr ^ { -1 } , of which the vast majority can not escape the nucleus .
Only 2 M _ { \odot } yr ^ { -1 } is actually capable of escaping the galaxy .
Most of the molecular gas that remains is very inefficient at forming stars .
The far-infrared emission is dominated by an ultra-compact ( \lesssim 50 pc ) source that could either be powered by an AGN or by an ultra-compact starburst .
The ratio of the SF surface density ( \Sigma _ { SFR } ) to the gas surface density ( \Sigma _ { H _ { 2 } } ) indicates that SF is suppressed by a factor of \approx 50 compared to normal star-forming galaxies if all gas is forming stars , and \approx 150 for the outskirt ( 98 % ) dense molecular gas if the central region is is powered by an ultra-compact starburst .
The AGN-driven bulk outflow could account for this extreme suppression by hindering the fragmentation and gravitational collapse necessary to form stars through a process of turbulent injection .
This result suggests that even relatively common , low-power AGNs are able to alter the evolution of their host galaxies as their black holes grow onto the M- \sigma relation .