Collisions between two spiral galaxies can be spectacular affairs, filled with drama and romance. Dr. Barry Rothberg of the Leibniz Institute for Astrophysics in Potsdam, details how the massive events play out and why the fate of our own galaxy, the Milky Way, could already be sealed.
Credits
Produced by Luke Groskin 
 Music by Audio Network  
 Footage and Galaxy Visualizations Courtesy of NASA; ESA; and F. Summers, STScI;  G. Besla, Columbia University; R. van der Marel, STScI 
  Patrik Jonsson, Greg Novak and Joel Primack, UC Santa Cruz, 2008 
 V.Springel, Heidelberg University, Germany 
 T.J. Cox, Voxer 
 Phillip Hopkins, California Institute of Technology 
 Lars Hernquist, Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics 
 Large Binocular Telescope Corp. 
 Barry Rothberg and the Leibniz Institute for Astrophysics, Potsdam
Meet the Producer
About Luke Groskin
@lgroskinLuke Groskin is Science Friday’s video producer. He’s on a mission to make you love spiders and other odd creatures.