On Tue, 21 Sep 2004 23:07:39 -0700, "BP"
wrote:

Wally,
For my Grad thesis project I was thinking about doing simulations of
cannibal or colliding galaxies. Any insight? I read that collisions are
rare due to interstellar distances.


Don't look at me, I don't do galaxies :-)

My intuition says that there's lots of galaxies, so interactions might
be rare, but not that rare. After all, our own galaxy is eating up
another, and Stephans Quintet is supposed to have 4 of the galaxies
actually gravitationally bound.

Whilst rare, my guess is that they would probably happen. The paper I
cited obviously suggests that collisions happen, and certainly did in
the early universe (this makes sense).

If you are going to do simulations, it would be neat to see the
results.




BP




"Wally Anglesea" wrote in message
...
"The Universe has experienced far fewer collisions among galaxies than
previously thought, according to a new analysis of Hubble Space Telescope
data by an ANU researcher.
Astronomer Dr Alister Graham, from the Research School of Astronomy and
Astrophysics, analysed a sample of galaxies located 100 million light
years away - and discovered that the number of violent encounters between
large galaxies is around one-tenth of the number earlier studies had
suggested.

Although theoretical models predict that fewer collisions were involved in
the evolution of the universe, Dr Graham's observations are the first that
confirm these theories."


http://info.anu.edu.au/mac/Media/Med...04Galaxies.asp



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