We saw last time that neighboring galaxies can "eat" each other through collisions and tidal forces, a process called galactic cannibalism. It is an amazing if violent process that seems to happen frequently, leading to the question, is our own Milky Way galaxy a galactic cannibal?
The short answer is yes. The motion of stars in our galaxy's outer halo suggests that the Milky Way has been absorbing smaller galaxies over the years. (There's also our impending collision with the Andromeda Galaxy, which we'll discuss later this week!)
If it makes you feel uneasy living in a universe of carnivorous galaxies, take heart: It looks like the earliest galaxies peacefully consumed their own gases to produce new stars at a remarkable pace.
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