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Article: Andromeda feasts on its satellite galaxies.(Brief Article)
- Article from:
- Science News
- Article date:
- July 7, 2001
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2001 Science Service, Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Often referred to as the Milky Way's big sister, the nearby galaxy Andromeda is about twice as large as our own galaxy and has a similar spiral shape. A new study reveals another feature that the two have in common: Both are cannibals.
Observations of distant galaxies still forming reveal that they grow bigger by gravitationally capturing smaller galaxies that fall within their grasp. The captured material ends up in a spherical halo of matter surrounding the galaxy's disk. In our fully formed Milky Way, researchers have found several streams of gas and stars that appear to be the stretched-out remains of small galaxies gobbled up billions of years ago (SN: ...