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Galactic Tidal Stream Simulator

Watch a globular cluster orbit a Milky Way-like galaxy and get torn apart by differential rotation, spinning off leading and trailing tidal streams exactly like the real Palomar 5 and Sagittarius streams. Tune cluster mass and orbit eccentricity and watch the Jacobi tidal radius shrink and grow live.

Space & Astronomy3DAdvanced60 FPS

This simulation follows a globular cluster orbiting a Milky Way-like galaxy and shows exactly how it gets pulled apart into a long tidal stream — the same mechanism that produced the real Palomar 5 stream and the Sagittarius stream now wrapped around our own galaxy. The host galaxy is given a flat rotation curve, so every star orbits at the same speed regardless of distance from the center, but stars closer in still complete each lap faster than stars farther out. Individual tracer stars are integrated under both the galaxy's gravity and the cluster's own gravity; once a star strays beyond the Jacobi (tidal) radius, this differential rotation peels it into a leading arm ahead of the cluster or a trailing arm behind it. Adjust the cluster's mass and the eccentricity of its orbit and watch the tidal radius, the bound star fraction, and the growing streams respond in real time.

⚙ Under the hood

Watch a globular cluster orbit a Milky Way-like galaxy and get torn apart by differential rotation, spinning off leading and trailing tidal streams just like the real Palomar 5 and Sagittarius streams.

tidal streamglobular clustergalactic dynamicsJacobi radiusN-bodydifferential rotation

3D · Three.js / WebGL renderer · 60 FPS target · runs fully client-side, no install