The spiral rebuilding scenario

Schematic representation of the newly proposed scenario of "spiral galaxy rebuilding": galaxies collide (1), then merge (2), inducing a burst of stellar formation activity. After the merging, the gas and the stars fall towards the centre in a very compact structure (3). Part of the gas which did not fall back initially, gradually rebuilds a disc around the compact structure, making a new spiral galaxy (4 and 5). The images are pictures of distant galaxies at various redshifts taken by the Hubble Space Telescope. The central panel displays the star formation rate as a function of time. The numbers coincide with the numbers shown on the images.

Credit:

ESO

About the Image

Id:eso0502b
Type:Chart
Release date:13 January 2005
Related releases:eso0502
Size:941 x 712 px

About the Object

Name:Galaxies
Type:Unspecified : Galaxy : Type : Spiral
Category:Galaxies

Image Formats

Large JPEG
98.9 KB
Screensize JPEG
99.5 KB