Scientists have finally concluded that the earth's Milky Way galaxy is on an epic collision course with neighbouring galaxy Andromeda - and know now when it will happen.
An illustration shows a picture of the night sky in around 3.75 billion years from now, with Andromeda on the left. Photo: Nasa
The Hubble Space Telescope's precise measurements have enabled scientists to say with certainty the collision will take place in around four billion years - and the two galaxies, which are being pulled together by gravity, will begin to merge into a single entity around two billion years later.
It had been speculated the two galaxies would avoid colliding, but the Hubble readings indicate that is now unlikely.
The collision won't mean the end of the earth, although our solar system is likely to be in a different place in the cosmos.
"This is pretty violent as things go in the universe,” said Roeland van der Marel, an astronomer with the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore that operates Hubble, who dubbed the event "the big smash-up".
"It’s like a bad car crash in galaxy-land.
"Today, the Andromeda Galaxy appears to us on the sky as a small fuzzy object that was first seen by ancient astronomers more than one thousand years ago," Van der Marel continued.
"Few things fascinate humans more than to know what our cosmic destiny and future fate will be. The fact that we can predict that this small fuzzy object will one day come to engulf and enshroud our Sun and Solar System is a truly remarkable and fascinating finding."
The two galaxies are separated by around 2.5million light years and Andromeda will be travelling at around 400,000km/hour when it hits the Milky Way but the earth and the other planets in the solar system will not be disturbed as they are so far apart they will not collide into each other.
yahoo
An illustration shows a picture of the night sky in around 3.75 billion years from now, with Andromeda on the left. Photo: Nasa
The Hubble Space Telescope's precise measurements have enabled scientists to say with certainty the collision will take place in around four billion years - and the two galaxies, which are being pulled together by gravity, will begin to merge into a single entity around two billion years later.
The collision won't mean the end of the earth, although our solar system is likely to be in a different place in the cosmos.
"This is pretty violent as things go in the universe,” said Roeland van der Marel, an astronomer with the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore that operates Hubble, who dubbed the event "the big smash-up".
"It’s like a bad car crash in galaxy-land.
"Today, the Andromeda Galaxy appears to us on the sky as a small fuzzy object that was first seen by ancient astronomers more than one thousand years ago," Van der Marel continued.
"Few things fascinate humans more than to know what our cosmic destiny and future fate will be. The fact that we can predict that this small fuzzy object will one day come to engulf and enshroud our Sun and Solar System is a truly remarkable and fascinating finding."
The two galaxies are separated by around 2.5million light years and Andromeda will be travelling at around 400,000km/hour when it hits the Milky Way but the earth and the other planets in the solar system will not be disturbed as they are so far apart they will not collide into each other.
yahoo
