I don't usually compare what we see going on out there in space with mediaeval ritual, but in this case it is hard to resist.

Astronomers have found two galaxies fighting it out like knights at a joust.

Most cosmic objects, such as planets, stars and galaxies, are born through the combination of smaller lumps of cosmic construction material (clouds of cosmic gas and dust) into bigger lumps.

That was how our Solar System was formed, with the Sun taking up most of the construction material and the Earth, other planets and other bodies forming from the leftovers.

The universe came into existence just under 14 billion years ago, with the main phase of star and galaxy formation peaking at around 11 billion years ago. At that time galaxies and stars were forming at a huge rate, with those galaxies colliding and coalescing into bigger ones.

A four-year study involving the Atacama Large Millimetre Array, a large, internationally run radio........

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