Galaxy Collision: Tidal Tails in an N-Body Simulation (27.5 s)

What actually happens when two spiral galaxies collide? A colour-coded particle simulation, with the Milky Way in blue and Andromeda in gold, shows both discs swinging through each other and throwing out long tidal tails. A second view follows two single stars, one flung outward and one falling inward: paths change, but stars almost never hit. Script, art direction, fact-check and QA by me; animation is code-driven (AI-assisted Python N-body simulation); galaxy textures in the second view are real ESO photos.

Credit: ESO NGC 1232 / M83 stand-ins, CC BY 4.0

Scientific Simulation · N-Body · Python · Motion Design