Tuesday, November 18, 2025

The Andromeda Galaxy Quenches Its Satellite Galaxies Long Before They Fall In

The resplendent Andromeda Galaxy (M31) as imaged by NASA's Galaxy Evolution Explorer. The yellowish galaxy below it is its satellite, M110, and the blue galaxy above it is M32. Andromeda has 39 known dwarf, satellite galaxies, and many of them are quenched long before they actually fall into Andromeda. Image Credit: NASA

Galaxies grow massive through mergers with other galaxies. Massive galaxies like the Milky Way and Andromeda not only merge with other large galaxies, they also absorb their much smaller satellite dwarf galaxies. But these smaller galaxies can become quenched long before they're absorbed, and new research examines this process at Andromeda (M31).



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