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Galaxies and Cosmic HistoryModule 3Formation, Feedback, and Mergers
Module 3 / Lesson 12 of 2442 min
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What Do Galaxy Mergers Preserve, Transform, or Erase?

Which tidal features and motions reveal an encounter after the brightest disruption fades?

Reconstruct a merger from relative motion, tidal bridges and tails, compressed star-forming regions, separate nuclei, and faint shells or streams that persist after the brightest disturbance fades.

An original reconstruction of two interacting spiral galaxies with distinct nuclei, a bridge, long tidal tails, bright star-forming knots, and faint outer streams.
Vastward-generated artistic reconstruction of a galaxy merger record. It is not a telescope photograph; a real Hubble image of the Antennae appears below.

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