References & Sources

Hubble spies a cluster’s unruly past

Images of a distant galaxy cluster confirm the prevailing view that collisions between galaxies were more common in the past and that massive galaxies formed from the merging of smaller ones.

References:

Van Dokkum, P.G., M. Franx, et al. 1999. A high merger fraction in the rich cluster MS 1054-03 at z=0.83: Direct evidence for hierarchical formation of massive galaxies. Astrophysical Journal Letters 520(Aug. 1):L95.

Sources:

Pieter G. van Dokkum
Kapteyn Astronomical Institute
P.O. Box 800
Groningen NL-9700 AV
Netherlands

From Science News, Vol. 156, No. 4, July 24, 1999, p. 52. Copyright © 1999, Science Service.