<p>The answer is yes. Stellar collisions are events that occur mainly in Globular clusters due to their high stellar density. The likelihood of these events is highly dependent on the stellar density. As we know the galactic centers concentrate large amounts of matter and, of course, thousads of stars which are mainly in the old red main sequence. However, recent observations hane shown as the existence of young stellar clusters located in the Galactic center of Milky in contrast with our models and predictions about the galactic structures. It is currently believed that in these clusters occur a lot of stellar collisions. For more information there is a related paper <a href="http://cds.cern.ch/record/478379/files/0011424.pdf" rel="nofollow">here</a>.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-07-09T01:32:26.047Z
Very good, thank you. It seems I was wrong. But, from a quick look at the paper, it seems there are no observational evidences for this, even if many arguments point to the expectation of such events.
Py-ser
CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-07-12T23:18:29.970Z
Stellar collisions occur about once every 10000 years in the globular clusters surrounding the Milky way: http://partners.nytimes.com/library/national/science/061300sci-stars-collisions.html
Wayfaring Stranger
CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-09-20T08:30:03.427Z
And such events "almost never" happen to stars like the sun, in the main part of the galaxy's disc. The distances between stars are just too vast.
James K
CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-07-08T14:01:38.057Z
2014-07-10T18:12:03.180Z
2014-07-10T18:12:03.180Z
Chris Papageorgakis
<p>A high density of stars definitely increases the chances of collisions, however, the high velocity of a halo star orbiting wouldn't increase its chances. Since the halo star is traveling very quickly, the halo star would only spend a small amount of time near the galactic core. Additionally, it would have less time to get deflected, gravitationally, by other stars in the core.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-11-30T15:10:33.307Z
Also: wouldn't "halo stars" which are circling around, only be doing that in the radius of the galaxy around the disk?  Not swishing through the central area.
Fattie
CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-12-10T19:33:26.637Z
@JoeBlow http://astro.unl.edu/classaction/questions/milkyway/ca_milkyway_orbits.html
Aaron
CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-07-08T21:19:46.323Z
2014-07-08T21:19:46.323Z
Aaron
<p>I'm reading on Wikipedia about Halo Stars that orbit the center of the galaxy at a high inclination away from the plane of the Milky Way.  It seems that at some point, these stars must dive back into the core of our galaxy at very high relative velocities.  This causes me to wonder...wouldn't this, combined with the greater density of stars in the core, cause a large number of stellar collisions in the galactic core?</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-07-01T06:30:08.903Z
Not really, stellar collisions are a rare event. I'll try to make an answer in a while.
Py-ser
<star><galaxy><galactic-dynamics><eccentric-orbit>
Are there a lot of collisions between stars in the core of the galaxy?
Kevin Holmes
# Are there a lot of collisions between stars in the core of the galaxy?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2014-06-29)

I'm reading on Wikipedia about Halo Stars that orbit the center of the galaxy at a high inclination away from the plane of the Milky Way. It seems that at some point, these stars must dive back into the core of our galaxy at very high relative velocities. This causes me to wonder...wouldn't this, combined with the greater density of stars in the core, cause a large number of stellar collisions in the galactic core?

**Tags:** star, galaxy, galactic-dynamics, eccentric-orbit
> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: Not really, stellar collisions are a rare event. I'll try to make an answer in a while.  

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## 2 answers

### Answer by username_2 on 2014-07-08. Score: 4

The answer is yes. Stellar collisions are events that occur mainly in Globular clusters due to their high stellar density. The likelihood of these events is highly dependent on the stellar density. As we know the galactic centers concentrate large amounts of matter and, of course, thousads of stars which are mainly in the old red main sequence. However, recent observations hane shown as the existence of young stellar clusters located in the Galactic center of Milky in contrast with our models and predictions about the galactic structures. It is currently believed that in these clusters occur a lot of stellar collisions. For more information there is a related paper [here](http://cds.cern.ch/record/478379/files/0011424.pdf).

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: Very good, thank you. It seems I was wrong. But, from a quick look at the paper, it seems there are no observational evidences for this, even if many arguments point to the expectation of such events.  
> **username_3**: Stellar collisions occur about once every 10000 years in the globular clusters surrounding the Milky way: http://partners.nytimes.com/library/national/science/061300sci-stars-collisions.html  
> **username_4**: And such events "almost never" happen to stars like the sun, in the main part of the galaxy's disc. The distances between stars are just too vast.  

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### Answer by username_5 on 2014-07-08. Score: 2

A high density of stars definitely increases the chances of collisions, however, the high velocity of a halo star orbiting wouldn't increase its chances. Since the halo star is traveling very quickly, the halo star would only spend a small amount of time near the galactic core. Additionally, it would have less time to get deflected, gravitationally, by other stars in the core.

> **Comments:**
> **username_6**: Also: wouldn't "halo stars" which are circling around, only be doing that in the radius of the galaxy around the disk?  Not swishing through the central area.  
> **username_5**: @JoeBlow http://astro.unl.edu/classaction/questions/milkyway/ca_milkyway_orbits.html  

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