First “Active” is not being redefined by science as asserted above. Active means the process is ongoing. A sailboatd’s sail is active, but there must be wind. The black hole needs to have a stream of matter falling in to power the beam effect.

Second, we are looking at one frame of a moving picture. These galaxies have been colliding for millions of years and the tidal forces are causing many clusters and possibly whole spiral arms to fall into the grational well.

Imagine the well known high speed film of the bullet hitting the apple. One frame may show the bullet at one moment in the stream of moments and that photo would show the apple’s first splash as the bullet strikes.

The composite photo shows several causes, and effects.
* Gravity is disrupting both galaxies.
* Spiral arms are being severly distorted.
* Many clusters will be lost to the depths of space.
* Many more clusters will be swallowed.

Ultimately, both black holes will capture each other and ultimately the pair will consume the remaining stars, nebulas and dust in the general area, except for the outermost clusters with high radial velocities which are destined to escape.

The “sound” of a galaxy would be the frequencies at which it resonates. A flute or a piano string vibrates, that vibration is its sound. Objects tend to have frequencies that reinforce energy movement, and other frequencies at which energy is dampened or absorbed. A gravitationally connected web of rotating particles would tend to produce all frequencies, like an irregular galaxy or a supercluster.

A spiral would have positive reinforcements at a whole number ration as dictated by the number of arms, assuming the arms are roughly the same size. Thus, that galaxy would have a dominant note corresponding to this frequency, on the order of thousands of years per cycle.

Since there are no physical connections between solar masses the effect would be very subtle and it would take millions of years for standing waves to be created by the millions of gravitional vortices.

If the galaxy is spinning in a circle and not pulled by an outside disruptive force the arms should even out and form a barred spiral with the bar’s size relative to the vibrational frequncy of the galaxy.

It it possible that two galaxies of the same size and orientation, in close proximity, might actually cross gravity waves harmoniously and actually affect each other, a cosmic tuning up perhaps.

Well, keep on thinking!

We need more critical thinkers… especially at voting time!

John Rosengarten, Chicago USA

You’re taking me too seriously. I still vote for “Earth-shattering kaboom.”