Mergers in a Cluster

This animation shows a computer simulation of interactions in a cluster of galaxies over a period of 10 billion years. The simulation starts with a population of disk galaxies embedded in dark matter halos. Over time, mergers near the center produce a giant elliptical galaxy (note that the size of the simulation in the horizontal direction is 1.5 megaparsecs). Mergers of this kind are thought to be responsible for the giant elliptical galaxies found at the centers of large galaxy clusters. Usage: Click "Play" to begin and "Stop" to halt. "Step" moves forward one step and "Back" moves backwards one step. "Home" returns to the beginning from any point.