Dynamic friction

Under dynamic friction is generally understood as the influence of objects that do not touch, yet affecting, by their movement - their dynamics .

In astronomy, this effect plays an important role in the collision of galaxies (so-called merging ). There is no collision of individual stars , as it is very unlikely that one star will meet another. When star systems penetrate each other, dynamic friction occurs instead: when a star flies through other star systems, its mass exerts an attraction on the surrounding objects; this leads to an increase in the density of stars behind the penetrating star, which slows it down in its movement.

literature

• Johannes Feitzinger : Galaxies. In: Ludwig Bergmann (ed.): Textbook of Experimental Physics. Vol. 8: Stars and Space. 2nd, greatly expanded and updated edition. De Gruyter, Berlin 2002, pp. 299-438, here p. 315 f.