Galactic smash-ups can reignite or destroy galaxies — but which will it be? Astronomers using space- and ground-based telescopes to peer inside the mergers of nearby galaxies are hoping to learn more about these events and what they mean for the history and future of our universe.
Galaxy mergers have built our universe into the place it is today. Over time, smaller galaxies crash into each other, creating larger, more complex structures. But what exactly happens during a merger — and what it will wreak on the resulting larger galaxy — is a difficult question to answer. The result even seems to differ from merger to merger. While some mergers ignite star formation, lighting up the resultant galaxy in a starburst, others appear to quench it, effectively killing the galaxies much faster than if the merger had never occurred.
Most mergers in the universe were taking place about 6 billion ...
