Merging

• by safc

  Here are two merging stars/universe

  Posted June 20, 2014 8:54 PM

• by Budgieye moderator

  Two galaxies, may be overlapping or may be starting to merge though there is no deformation of the galaxies.

  Posted June 20, 2014 9:26 PM

• by JeanTate in response to safc's comment.

  Welcome to Galaxy Zoo, safc!

  For yellow-orange blobs like this - elliptical galaxies - it's much harder to tell an overlap from a merger/interaction; there are rarely any dust lanes (so no 'shadows'), and any tidal tails (or other merger signs) may be faint. Because galaxies like these have little dust and cold gas left, interaction/merger does not set off fireworks (a.k.a. bursts of intense star-formation).

  Happy hunting! 😃

  Posted June 25, 2014 2:36 PM