How does a major galaxy merger impact the ordered disk structure of merging spirals?
Answer
It destroys the ordered disk structures, mixing the stars into a randomized, ellipsoidal configuration
When two spiral galaxies of roughly equal mass undergo a major merger, the immense gravitational forces exerted during the collision are highly disruptive to the existing organized structures. The delicate balance maintaining the flat, rotating disk of the spiral system is destroyed. The resulting gravitational dynamics randomize the orbital paths of the constituent stars, dispersing them from their organized plane into a more chaotic, three-dimensional, ellipsoidal arrangement that defines the final elliptical galaxy structure.
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