FIGURE 1. Merger activity.

From the following article:

Astrophysics: How do galaxies form?

Sidney van den Bergh

Nature 455, 1049-1051(23 October 2008)

doi:10.1038/4551049a

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Here, two spiral galaxies (NGC 6050 and IC 1179) are caught in the act of colliding. The prevailing theory of galaxy formation holds that the evolution of individual galaxies will depend on the details of their chaotic merger history — in particular the masses, spins and gas content of the individual merging galaxies — as well as on the environment in which a galaxy is assembled. But Disney et al.1 find that galaxy formation seems to correlate most strongly with the present-day mass of the galaxy.

NASA/ESA/HUBBLE HERITAGE TEAM

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