Can the collision between the Andromeda galaxy and the Milky Way be the end of humanity?



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Despite the previously announced apocalyptic predictions following the collision between the Andromeda galaxy and the Milky Way, astronomers believe a more promising prospect for humanity.

A group of astronomers was able to calculate the most accurate moment for the expected collision. between the Milky Way and the Andromeda galaxy – our closest neighbor galaxy.

Previously, scientists thought that this would happen in 3.9 billion years, but the authors of the research, published in Astrophysical Journal, followed the movement of the stars with the help of the Gaia telescope. European Space Agency (ESA) and have determined that, in fact, the big collision will occur in 4.5 billion years.

In addition, the authors predict that it will not be a frontal collision, but a "side scan", which will not be too devastating. And as the distance between stars and galaxies is still very large, our solar system is likely to remain unscathed from this event.

However, before the collision with Andromeda, the Milky Way will have to undergo a similar test. with the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC), which is expected to occur in 2.5 billion years. While Andromeda is a little larger than our galaxy, LMC has only 1/80 of the mbad of the Milky Way.

The collision with CML, however, will affect our galaxy, supposedly by increasing the mbad of the supermbadive black hole in its center and the remodeling of the Milky Way in a standard spiral galaxy.

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