Although not currently starbursting, it has undergone a period of intense star formation in the recent past, ceasing only ≈500 Myr ago.

yr−1 is significantly lower than expected for a galaxy of its properties, suppressed by a factor of 50 to 150.

[5] NGC 1266 is the first known intermediate-mass galaxy to show AGN-driven suppression of star formation.

Two hypotheses exist to explain NGC 1266's nuclear activity and excessive far-IR emission.

The black hole at the center of the galaxy is likely growing according to the M–sigma relation, and eventually the outflow will result in the removal of the majority of the gas from the nucleus.