Friday, June 18, 2010

Weekend Fun - Galaxy Crash!

Since there probably won't be any updates over the weekend, I thought I'd leave you with this little gem: GALAXY CRASH!

Just click on "Applet" on the left side of the page to open up a new window and start simulating your own galactic collisions. You can adjust the galaxies' relative orientation, their mass differential, the number of stars, etc. And you can drag your mouse on the screen to look at the collision from any angle!

Galaxies occasionally collide -- in fact, astronomers predict that our own Milky Way galaxy will collide with our neighbor, The Andromeda Galaxy (M31), some 3 billion years from now. But because the distances between the stars in each galaxy are so vast, the chances of star systems actually crashing into each other are much smaller than you might think.

Check out this animation of galaxies colliding (around the 6 minute mark), from Carl Sagan's COSMOS:

2 comments:

  1. To be a "cockroach" on the wall then, lol. =p

    ReplyDelete
  2. VERY COOL

    Just wanted to say I really like your blog! Keep up the good work!!

    Steve
    Common Cents
    http://www.commoncts.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete