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When Andromeda makes its way into the Milky Way, a trillion new stars will illuminate the night sky above the Earth. According to NASA, cosmic fusion will result in a frontal collision of unimaginable magnitude. Andromeda will deform the shape of the Milky Way and our Sun will probably be projected into a different part of the galaxy. Before the comic event unfolds completely, the ensemble of Andromeda will dominate the night vision of the Earth.
NASA said: "The Milky Way should undergo a major transformation during the meeting, which should take place within four billion years.
"It is likely that the Sun will be projected into a new region of our galaxy, but our Earth and our solar system are not likely to be destroyed."
NASA astronomers announced this incredible forecast in May 2012, following a "laborious" survey conducted by the Hubble Space Telescope.
The orbital observatory measured the movements of Andromeda, or M31, while he was slowly heading towards our galaxy.
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NASA news: The Andromeda galaxy will one day illuminate the night sky in this way (Image: NASA / ESA / ET AL)
NASA news: The two galaxies will collide in four billion years (Image: NASA / ESA / ET AL)
At present, Andromeda is about 2.5 million light-years away.
The scenario is like a baseball hitter watching an imminent fastball
When she is seen at night, the galaxy is a small and fuzzy path of light that does not stand out from an ordinary star.
But in about 3.75 billion years, the spiral characteristics of the galaxy and the glow of its stellar gas will be revealed to the eye.
Sangmo Tony Sohn of the Institute of Space Telescope Sciences (STScI) in Baltimore said, "After almost a century of speculation about the future fate of Andromeda and our Milky Way, we finally have a clear idea how events will unfold over the next billions. d & # 39; years. "
Andromeda is falling towards the Milky Way because the two galaxies are pulling one against the other with their gravity.
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Large amounts of invisible dark matter between the two galaxies further facilitate idle collision.
NASA said, "The scenario is like a baseball hitter watching an imminent fastball.
"Although Andromeda is approaching us more than 2,000 times faster, it will take four billion years before the strike.
"The computer simulations derived from the Hubble data show that it will take another two billion years after the meeting for the interacting galaxies to fuse completely under the weight of gravity and transform into a single, similar elliptical galaxy." to the one that we commonly see in the local universe. "
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Fortunately, there is too much empty space between individual stars for the galactic fusion to be cataclysmic.
When galaxies meet, the stars cross without meeting.
The merger, however, will affect the orbits of stars and give them new paths.
According to NASA, our solar system will be pushed back to a region farther away from the galaxy.
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NASA news: A table of NASA's budget over the years (Image: GETTY)
NASA news: Step by step view of the Andromeda galaxy (Image: NASA / ESA / ETA AL)
Then a small galaxy called M33 will join the collision and eventually merge with the hybrid Andromeda-Milky Way.
There is also a small chance that the small M33 goes through the Milky Way before Andromeda.
NASA said: "The universe is expanding and accelerating, and collisions between very close galaxies are still occurring because they are related to the gravity of the dark matter that surrounds them.
"The deep views of the Hubble Space Telescope's universe show that such encounters between galaxies were more common in the past, when the universe was smaller."
Quick Facts About The Andromeda Galaxy
1. The official designation of Andromeda is M31 or NGC 224.
2. The galaxy is estimated at eight 1,230 billion times more than our Sun.
3. Andromeda is the nearest galactic neighbor to the Earth and the galaxy is getting closer and closer.
4. The galaxy has at least two spiral arms around its galactic core.
5. Andromeda is the largest galaxy of the local group, but it is thought that the Milky Way is heavier.
Some facts about the Milky Way:
1. Our solar system is located in the Orion Arm or the Orion Spur of the Milky Way, between the arms of Sagittarius and Perseus.
2. A supermassive black hole called Sagittarius A * or Sgr A * is in the heart of the Milky Way.
3. It takes 250 million years for our solar system to complete a complete turn in the center of the Milky Way.
4. The Milky Way is about 100,000 light-years away.
5. Our home galaxy is a so-called four-armed spiral galaxy.
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