Science a GoGo's Home Page Forums General Discussion Physics Forum edge of space; plausible

Hello rendewenur,

The question that is nagging at me is this. The galaxies don't move. It is the stretching of space that moves the galaxies, so the movement is relative to space. According to this article, the galaxies stay the same distance apart. If they stay the same distance apart (relative to the stretching of space)how can ones gravity capture another?

Let me put it like this, and I am using hypothetical numbers to make a point. If 5 billion years ago we had a big bang. The universe started stretching and moved along for another 2 billion years, in all that time "space" stretched and the galaxies stayed stationary relative to space. But, something happens, galaxy A gets captured by galaxy B's gravity. This overwhelms the forces that are expanding space and these two galaxies collide. What is present when they collide that wasn'nt present when the big bang occured 5 billion years ago?
Or why didn't it happen 1 billion years after the big bang?

You got me straight on the epicenter, I stand corrected.

Thanks,
odin1