Only about 100 years ago, humanity made a revolutionary discovery: the existence of other galaxies. The person responsible for this is astronomer Edwin Hubble, who, by observing a type of star called a Cepheid variable in the Andromeda Galaxy, was able to measure its distance.
Since this discovery, astronomy has advanced greatly, allowing scientists to explore deeper not only Andromeda, but also an estimated two trillion galaxies in the observable universe.
One of the most interesting facts about the Andromeda Galaxy, the closest galaxy to the Milky Way, is that they are on a collision course. According to NASA, this collision is supposed to happen in about four billion years, when the Andromeda Galaxy, which is moving at an astonishing speed of 402,336 km/h, will collide with the Milky Way.
The solar system survives the galaxy collision, but it changes the universe.
This collision will create a new elliptical galaxy, made up of a mixture of stars from the two merging galaxies. Despite the magnitude of the event, there is good news: our solar system, including Earth, should survive, albeit in new coordinates in the universe. However, this prediction is based on observations that are still improving.
A study was made available late last month on a pre-print server. arXivThe study, which is still in the review phase, analyzed the latest data from the Gaia and Hubble space telescopes, as well as new estimates of the masses of galaxies in the Local Group, which includes Andromeda and the Milky Way.
Through the research, the participating scientists tried to better understand how this group of galaxies will evolve over the next ten billion years and to identify potential uncertainties in this evolution.
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The study highlights that predicting future galaxy mergers depends on understanding the current coordinates, velocities and masses of the galaxies involved. In addition to the force of gravity, dynamical friction, which transfers orbital kinetic energy into internal energy, plays a crucial role in preparing for these mergers.
Uncertainties about the location and motion of Andromeda and the galaxy Messier 33 (M33) suggest that there is a good chance that a collision with the Milky Way will not occur for another 10 billion years. In fact, the study suggests a probability of about 50% that no merger will occur.
But the scientists behind the study are cautious, highlighting the need for more observations to accurately determine Andromeda's future and its relationship to the Milky Way.
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