Galaxy Zoo Talk

Merging Galaxies

  • amin556 by amin556

    please correct me if these are not merging ?

    Posted

  • ElisabethB by ElisabethB moderator

    Merger is an option. But it could also be an overlap.

    Posted

  • lmark985 by lmark985

    It seems like they are overlapping. the galaxy on the left is further away from the right.

    Posted

  • leelan by leelan

    If they were merging wouldn't at least one of galaxies show a lot of disruption in the disk?

    Posted

  • Ashley_James by Ashley_James

    They seem to be simply overlapping, individual objects. There is no direct apparent mass disruption between the bodies and the structures seem to be intact. The mass below to me appears in the foreground with a star behind it with another galaxy to the left side.

    Posted

  • davidrobertson by davidrobertson

    IMHO these are post collision galaxies. The result of a collision is usually a diffuse white disk with yellow core that is evolving into a more uniform golden elliptical AGZ0000yk8 for example.
    The collisions seem to produce 3 to 6 small fragments which are clusters of stars, see AGZ0003ofh where there are another two independent collisions visible at this stage, also GZ0004uni showing two close by (as in this post's image) and the 6 fragments produced.
    What puzzles me is the uniformity of the fragment colour, yellow red or white, but usually not pink. Perhaps this implies that the suns have taken on board a considerable amount of hydrogen, more than their original mass, and now together reached the red giant stage.
    Hopefully someone with good knowledge of the subject can give a more informed viewpoint here or on my other post DGZ0000b00, as I don't have any telescope or means to check up on the velocity vectors. I appreciate being correctly informed as it helps a lot with interpretation. Actually there doesn't seem much on the internet either.

    Posted