galactic collision tagged posts

When Galaxies Collide: Models suggest galactic collisions can starve massive black holes

Eight dark squares, each with a chaotic orange shape
Galaxies collide. Visualizations of the dynamic model simulating two different scenarios. The top row shows a collision reducing core activity, the bottom row shows a collision increasing it. © 2021 Miki et al.

It was previously thought that collisions between galaxies would necessarily add to the activity of the massive black holes at their centers. However, researchers have performed the most accurate simulations of a range of collision scenarios and have found that some collisions can reduce the activity of their central black holes. The reason is that certain head-on collisions may in fact clear the galactic nuclei of the matter which would otherwise fuel the black holes contained within.

When you think about gargantuan phenomena such as the collision of galaxies, it might be t...

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