Milky Way Galaxy Doomed: Collision with Andromeda Pending
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http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap120604.html
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DZM
admin
Not that I'll be around to see it if this comes to pass, but, out of curiosity, what would be the fate of our Solar System and the Earth in such a scenario? Is it too large-scale to matter?
I mean, I know that we only have about 5 billion years until the Sun goes red-giant anyway, but I'm curious... do galaxy mergers affect individual solar systems?
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Probably not, Darren, as there is a lot of space between the stars of both galaxies, so our Sun probably won't collide with anoher star. Worst case scenario our solar system gets ejected into outer space during the merger. But our solar system will probably find a new orbit in the newly formed galaxy 😃.
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However one thing has to be taken into account. According to this article the merger will happen between 2 and 7 billion years from now. During that time our sun will become a Red Giant, thereby ultimately making life impossible on our little planet.
http://earthsky.org/space/video-of-earths-night-sky-between-now-and-7-billion-years
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DZM
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in response to Alpha Aurigae's comment.
Yep... I did mention that in my original comment. 😃 ("I mean, I know that we only have about 5 billion years until the Sun goes red-giant anyway...")
Thank you very much for the answer! Maybe if it happens in time, the Andromeda Galaxy can be our solar system's "retirement home" for the last billion or so years of its life. 😃
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I wonder if the scientists have already made up a name for the new galaxy 😃.
(And oops, I must have skipped reading the "I mean, I know that we only have about 5 billion years until the Sun goes red-giant anyway..." part. Apologies 😃
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DZM
admin
Hehe... I don't know a ton about astronomy at the moment, so I have to be proud of the few little things that I do already know! 😃
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