The news is that the Milky Way is bigger - if not as big as the Andromeda Galaxy - spinning faster, and we're much more likely to go splat in the deep future with Andromeda.
It's 2.5 million (+/-) light years away. From what I understand, the Milky Way and Andromeda are spiraling in towards each other: the combined gravity of thw two galaxies is pulling them together.
It is supposed to be over a billion years from now - for some reason 2.5 billion sticks in my head - and look something like this when it happens.
Oh, and it won't be fast. Think of it like a cosmic train wreck that takes a looooong time (even in geological scales) to happen. The Antenna Galaxies began their crunch 500 million years ago and they're not done.
How would we "splat" against the Andromeda galaxy? Isn't that like light-years away from us?
ReplyDeleteIt's 2.5 million (+/-) light years away. From what I understand, the Milky Way and Andromeda are spiraling in towards each other: the combined gravity of thw two galaxies is pulling them together.
ReplyDeleteIt is supposed to be over a billion years from now - for some reason 2.5 billion sticks in my head - and look something like this when it happens.
Oh, and it won't be fast. Think of it like a cosmic train wreck that takes a looooong time (even in geological scales) to happen. The Antenna Galaxies began their crunch 500 million years ago and they're not done.