Rogue planets black holes cannibal galaxies and more our home galaxy the milky way has
been relatively safe or so we thought scientists predicted that in about 3.75 billion years from
now our galaxy would eventually collide with andromeda our large spiral galaxy neighbor
however new findings have shown that these predictions and the timeline may actually be
totally wrong could we be looking at a major collision with the andromeda galaxy sooner or
later than anticipated what would this mean for the world as we know it welcome the Factnomenal
and today we will take a look at some shocking new discoveries and answer some
burning questions about Andromeda and its much debated collision with our milky way
when worlds collide Andromeda and the Milky Way seem to have a strange relationship both of them
have so much in common but at the same time the impending galactic collision between the two
poses a great risk for both and could completely alter life as we know it our milky way belongs to
the local group of galaxies of which andromeda is by far the largest our big bright neighbor
was actually the first clue to scientists about the existence of other massive galaxies in the
universe with a whopping size of 220 000 light years across and home to roughly 1 trillion stars
way more than the milky way's 200 to 400 billion stars the spiral galaxy can actually be seen with
the naked eye being 2.5 million light years away if you know where to look for it in the
really makes Andromeda stand out from among the other galaxies in the local group is that this
behemoth of a galaxy is actually hurtling through the cosmos at 6.8 miles per second andromeda seems
to be getting closer with each passing moment and it's headed straight towards us a galaxy is born
the milky way is in for a huge makeover after its destined collision with neighbor andromeda
the aftermath of such a crash could completely alter not only both galaxies but the solar system
and beyond when galaxies collide it sure makes for a spectacular show with a chaotic mess of stars
crashing into each other and altering each other's orbits as of right now andromeda is visible only
as a speck in the sky from our vantage point here on earth but in about 2 billion years it will
eventually become a looming presence in the sky according to a report from nasa this is how the
collision is likely to play out as Andromeda draws closer to us eventually its tidal pole will begin
to distort the milky way as per the measurements provided by the Hubble Space Telescope
since the galaxies are mostly just empty space when they do make their first close pass with
each other there will be collisions between their stars at first the sky will be glowing brightly as
compressed gas dust and other material will begin to collapse and form newer stars the galaxies will
keep interacting with each other in this manner changing and shifting each other's shape and
will finally warp and be completely stretched out gravity is the force that will finally pull
both the giant neighbors together to a point where even their cores will be visible in the night sky
then begins the merger of the two cores with the two spiral-shaped galaxies giving birth to a brand
new oval-shaped galaxy one can't only imagine how bright the new galaxy would look against
the backdrop of space when both galaxies joined together with their army of stars
what would happen to the supermassive black holes of both the galaxies you ask well these lurking
black holes at the center will end up forming some sort of binary right at the heart of the new
galaxy the two merged black holes at the center are not likely to be stable causing them to spiral
inwards and emit gravitational waves while doing so from then on they will begin to merge with
scientists predicting that it would take another few million years in itself and what do you do
when you merge the Milky Way and the andromeda galaxy the milk drama to galaxy of course
researchers at the Pennsylvania State University were even able to develop a model map of what the
amazing birth of the new galaxy would look like by taking into account dark matter and dark energy
collision course galaxies often interact with each other and scientists have documented
these collisions and mergers to get a better understanding of what might happen to our own
collisions and mergers are essentially not a new phenomenon but when it comes to our milky way we
sure have a lot to consider over the years there has been much debate over whether the galaxies
will collide will it be the end of the world as we know it and if so when would it likely
happen previous studies even suggested that it's not uncommon for old galaxies like the milky way
and andromeda to collide or merge since our big neighbor is believed to have already been a part
of a galactic collision before perhaps that's why it's so huge scientists and astronomers
had predicted based on data from various space agencies and images through telescopes
that in approximately 3.75 billion years our galaxy would collide with the andromeda galaxy
the head on stellar collision was finally declared to be inevitable after years of debate
and speculation in 2012 with scientists using data and measurements from the Hubble Space Telescope
by tracking the motion of the stars in andromeda between the years 2002 to 2010 with subpixel
accuracy since then it's been a widely accepted fact that the milky way has an expiration date
set for 3.75 billion years and will collide with its galactic giant of a neighbor andromeda
new discoveries a new article based on data release 2 from the ESA's Gaia Mission has
provided some interesting new details as well as some much needed clarity on the future collision
turns out there are many key details about the great collision that we got totally wrong
what has now emerged is the fact that the scope of this collision reaches far beyond
just the two big galaxies to understand the interaction and possible collisions
between not only andromeda and the milky way but their other large neighbor the Triangulum Galaxy
the Gaia Mission came up with a 3d map of the milky way and its neighboring galaxies in the
local group with the help of this scientists have now actually been able to collect data required
to know the spin rates for the galaxies moving through space helping them study the way they
move evolve and interact with each other the study has also revealed a lot more about what's next for
the milky way and andromeda rather than colliding in 3.75 billion years scientists have estimated
with the help of more accurate measurements that it will happen in 4.3 to 4.5 billion years
and unlike the previous predictions the collision is going to be more of a gradual
merger rather than a head-on crash and will likely be less of a blow than we anticipated
well folks looks like doomsday has officially been postponed for now the beginning of the end
now that we know that we have some more time before the grand stellar collision it should
help us sit back and relax right well actually as of right now the two galaxies have already begun
to collide there is so much more to galaxies than just a flat disk of stars especially the envelope
of gas and plasma around the galaxy that can extend for thousands and millions of light years
we refer to this region as a galaxy's halo that scientists have been studying through
the way that light filters through from distant objects like quasars for example
which are bright and comparatively easier to observe using this method they were actually able
to observe 43 quasars scattered around andromeda's halo and discovered that the large galaxy's halo
stretches out much farther than previously thought this important information came from
project amiga using the Hubble Space telescope and studying the surroundings of the andromeda galaxy
what's truly amazing is that this discovery has led to the conclusion that andromeda's halo is
already brushing up against the milky way this is actually much sooner than anticipated and is
just the beginning of our galaxy's brush with its neighbor the galaxies are headed towards a
collision in a few billion years but their outer edges are already touching almost like they're
gently nudging each other's arms in a friendly gesture besides that measurements have shown how
with each passing day andromeda gets closer and appears larger in the sky as it hurtles towards
us could you imagine how cool it would be to see the galaxy up close and in all its glory
the Triangulum galaxy will also have its own role to play in the collision but will more
than likely end up orbiting the newborn galaxy Milkdromeda and could end up merging with it
in the future the new discovery also opens up new avenues for research with the two galaxies
already bumping into each other ahead of their impending collision unlike real-life business
mergers it looks like the two have taken things into their own hands and decided to simply get on
with it the findings and studies will also be able to help us understand our own galaxy better since
the two share so many similarities and it's rather hard to study the milky way while being inside it
a whole new world where would human life stand after the collision and merger of the two galaxies
some people argue whether human life will even exist at all in a billion years what with the
sun dying a slow death and possibly charring the earth to a crisp others are rather optimistic
that human life would already have gone through so much because of climate change the sun expanding
to the orbit of Venus and the galaxies being so sparsely spread that it wouldn't be as bad
the sun however will take a brutal hit with the gravitational forces so strong it will
fling the giant ball of gas into a completely new region of our galaxy and drastically change
the course of life on earth that is of course if the sun hasn't already turned into a white dwarf
honestly it's no wonder Elon Musk wants to build cities on mars sign me up though we won't be here
to witness this grand collision and birth of a new galaxy it's worth noting that the outer boundaries
of the galaxies are already touching and in a way we are already experiencing a part of it
we may have gotten some more time before the big collision but when it comes to space nothing is
ever black or white the collision is inevitable even if it's not as catastrophic as we once
thought it has already been set in motion until then what the future holds for both these cosmic
neighbors only time will tell so what do you think what are your predictions for the great
collision let us know in the comments please like and share the video and don't forget to
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