They are currently going through a starburst phase, in which the collision of clouds of gas and dust, with entangled magnetic fields, causes rapid star formation.

[7] The young age of these clusters is in contrast to the average age of most known globular clusters (which are around 12 billion years old), with the formation of the globulars likely originating from shockwaves, generated by the collision of the galaxies, compressing large, massive molecular clouds.

Today the two streamers of ejected stars extend far beyond the original galaxies, resulting in the antennae shape.

[18] Within 400 million years, the Antennae's nuclei will collide and become a single core with stars, gas, and dust around it.

[17][page needed] Areas containing large amounts of neon (Ne), magnesium (Mg), and silicon (Si) were found when the Chandra X-ray Observatory analyzed the Antennae Galaxies.