What mechanism is believed to have resulted in the smooth, ellipsoidal shapes of many large ellipticals?

Answer

Massive collisions and mergers between smaller galaxies

It is suggested that the formation history of large ellipticals involved violent gravitational interactions and mergers, which scramble organized rotation and heat up remaining gas, halting new star formation.

What mechanism is believed to have resulted in the smooth, ellipsoidal shapes of many large ellipticals?

#Videos

A Simple Guide to Classifying Elliptical Galaxies - YouTube

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