Galaxy Merger Simulation - Gas View [720p]

Color shows gas temperature, from 10⁴ K (blue) to ~10⁶ K (red). Brightness shows the projected gas surface density, scaled logarithmically. This movie shows typical simulations of major galaxy mergers. In the mergers, two Milky Way-like disk galaxies with a 2:1 mass ratio are placed in an initial parabolic orbit. The disks are constructed in equilibrium, with properties corresponding to observed disk galaxies, and include stellar and gas disks, central spheroidal bulges, and black holes, within a dark