The researchers also found that when two galaxies of the same size collide, both galaxies produce stars at a much faster rate.
Luke Davies, astrophysicist from The University of Western Australia node of the International Centre for Radio Astronomy Research (ICRAR), said that our nearest major galactic neighbour, Andromeda, is hurtling on a collision course with the Milky Way at about 400,000 kilometres per hour.
"Don't panic yet, the two won't smash into each other for another four billion years or so. But investigating such cosmic collisions lets us better understand how galaxies grow and evolve," he said.
However the new research, using the Galaxy and Mass Assembly (GAMA) survey observed using the Anglo-Australian Telescope in regional New South Wales, suggested that this idea is too simplistic.
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According to Davies, whether a galaxy forms stars more rapidly in a collision, or forms any new stars at all, depends on if it is the "big guy or the little guy in this galactic car crash."
"However when one galaxy significantly outweighs the other, we have found that star formation rates are affected for both, just in different ways," he said.
"The more massive galaxy begins rapidly forming new stars, whereas the smaller galaxy suddenly struggles to make any at all," he said.
"This might be because the bigger galaxy strips away its smaller companion's gas, leaving it without star-forming fuel or because it stops the smaller galaxy obtaining the new gas required to form more stars," he said.
Commenting on what will happen in four billion years to the Milky Way and Andromeda, Davies said the Milky Way and Andromeda are like "cosmic tanks" - both relatively large and with similar mass.
The study was published in the journal Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society.