| pancake model | has definition A model of galaxy formation in which the first structures to condense out of the smooth background of primordial gas were very large in size. These large masses then collapsed into thin sheets (pancakes) and fragmented into many smaller pieces the size of galaxies. A competing theory, sometimes called the hierarchical clustering model, proposes that the first structures to form were the size of galaxies. As galaxies clustered together, due to gravity, larger and larger structures were formed. (See hierarchical clustering model.) |  |
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