THIS is cannibalism but not as you know it, Jim. Our Universe is big enough for billions of galaxies, star assemblies, planets and clouds of gas and dust to dance harmlessly around each other – most of the time. Only in crowded galaxy clusters does this dance become more intimate, and it can turn deadly.
We’re talking galactic cannibalism – the tendency of large galaxies to gobble up their lesser neighbours. When a large galaxy approaches a smaller one, its gravitational pull rips the tiddler apart. Over a few million years, the attacker reduces the smaller galaxy to pieces, which it then devours.…
