Unveiling the Elusive Rarity of Spiral Galaxies: Astronomers Uncover the Long-Awaited Answer

Astronomers have discovered why spiral galaxies like the Milky Way are rare in our cosmic neighborhood. Supercomputer simulations revealed that frequent galactic collisions in the Supergalactic Plane transformed spiral galaxies into elliptical galaxies, while somehow sparing our own. The collisions shattered the delicate arms of spiral galaxies and pushed more matter into their supermassive black holes, making them even bigger. Spiral galaxies located away from the plane were mostly unaffected, allowing them to preserve their structures.