In cosmology, the study of galaxy formation and evolution is concerned with the processes that formed a heterogeneous universe from a homogeneous beginning, the formation of the first galaxies, the wa
Artist's image of a firestorm of star birth deep inside the core of a young, growing elliptical galaxy
NGC 4676 (Mice Galaxies) is an example of a present merger.
The Antennae Galaxies are a pair of colliding galaxies – the bright, blue knots are young stars that have recently ignited as a result of the merger.
ESO 325-G004, a typical elliptical galaxy
Dark matter
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In astronomy and cosmology, dark matter is an invisible and hypothetical form of matter that does not interact with electromagnetic radiation, including light. Dark matter is implied by gravitational
Galaxy formation and evolution
…and merging allows galaxies to accumulate mass, determining both their shape and structure. Hydrodynamics simulation, which simulates both baryons and dark matter, is widely used to study galaxy formation and evolution. Because of the inability to conduct experiments in outer space, the only way to “test” theories…
Hubble close-up on the Coma Cluster
Gravitational lensing bends light around a massive object from a distant source. The orange arrows show the apparent position of the background source. The white arrows show the path of the light from the true position of the source.
The Bullet Cluster
November 2025 JWST observations confirmed an actively growing supermassive black hole within a "little red dot" galaxy named CANUCS-LRD-z8.6.