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Space & Astronomy

Andromedia galaxy to collide with Milky Way

By T.K. Randall
June 1, 2012 · Comment icon 25 comments

Image Credit: NASA
NASA astronomers have announced that the nearest galaxy is on a collision course with our own.
It's not something anyone alive today is going to need to be too worried about however, Andromeda is over 2.5 million lights years away and won't reach us for another 4 billion years. When the two galaxies meet it is thought that due to the distance between stars it is unlikely that they will collide directly, instead being thrown in to different orbits.

"After nearly a century of speculation about the future destiny of Andromeda and our Milky Way, we at last have a clear picture of how events will unfold over the coming billions of years," said Sangmo Tony Sohn.
NASA astronomers announced Thursday they can now predict with certainty the next major cosmic event to affect our galaxy, sun, and solar system: the titanic collision of our Milky Way galaxy with the neighboring Andromeda galaxy.


Source: NASA | Comments (25)

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Recent comments on this story
Comment icon #16 Posted by esperwolf 12 years ago
Amazing, Oh if only I could be alive to see this. It isn't doomsday but the rebirth of a solar system. Imagine this the first ever galaxy with two suns. An Earth with a oval rotation instead of rounded. Days would last a lot longer with only a few hours of darkness. We may even obtain another moon in our orbit. We would not have another ice age but a Desert Age of sands...sounds like a Sci-Fi flick...never mind me I'm just rambling.
Comment icon #17 Posted by Pyridium 12 years ago
The real news here is that we have now been able to measure the direction and speed with absolute accuracy. 4 years ago we could see that both galaxies were moving toward each other, but now the proof is in...a direct collision. This is also proof that gravity has been attracting each other for a very long time, to the point where a direct collision is unavoidable. Gotta luv mother nature. Any gravitational pull strong enough to pull our sun will result in the total disruption of our solar system.
Comment icon #18 Posted by sepulchrave 12 years ago
THIS IS A REAL DOOMSDAY PREDICTION! lucky for us its 4,000,000,000 years away. we actually have EVIDENCE this time. not like the other doomsday predictions no offense howard camping No. This will probably not have any noticeable impact on the Earth. Amazing, Oh if only I could be alive to see this. It isn't doomsday but the rebirth of a solar system. Imagine this the first ever galaxy with two suns. An Earth with a oval rotation instead of rounded. Days would last a lot longer with only a few hours of darkness. We may even obtain another moon in our orbit. We would not have another ice age but... [More]
Comment icon #19 Posted by Mentalcase 12 years ago
To add to what Sepulchrave said, the stars of both galaxies are so far apart, it is likely that most solar systems will be unaffected. Would be a nice sight in the sky though. Our sun may be a red giant around this period.
Comment icon #20 Posted by St.Anger 12 years ago
People are worrying about this now,but who knows, the human race might become extinct way before. The bigger concern is us not killing ourselves by nuclear missiles.
Comment icon #21 Posted by meankitty 12 years ago
Would somebody please fix the title of the article? "Andromedia" offended my eyeballs.
Comment icon #22 Posted by ZaraKitty 12 years ago
I was worried we'd all die, but in 4 billion years I can't even imagine where humanity will be.
Comment icon #23 Posted by psyche101 12 years ago
No. This will probably not have any noticeable impact on the Earth. No. The Earth's orbit is unlikely to be affected. The new merged galaxy might have two galactic cores for a while, but that is about it. We will not get a new moon. It is incredibly unlikely that we will get another star. No. The net gravitational pull from Andromeda, while vast, will change gradually enough that it will almost certainly not disrupt our Solar system. It will just ``slide'' our Solar system smoothly and slowly to a new location within the merged galaxy. I thought that the likelihood is that our system will end ... [More]
Comment icon #24 Posted by Unknownguy 12 years ago
Imagine a planet's, stars, ect ect passing our skies, now that'll be a sight
Comment icon #25 Posted by Uncle Sam 12 years ago
It makes me sad that Earth won't be around for very long. If we as a species become space born, we could loose our place of birth and feel disconnected if it gets lost in history. All historical landmarks or information about the past would be burned up in the red giant if it engulfs Earth. There is two possibilities, Earth would move out of range of Red Giant but be stripped of atmosphere or be engulfed by the red giant. By the time the merger between two galaxies happen, Earth would either be gone or inhabitable.
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