Milky Way galaxy will collide with Andromeda

National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) some time ago issued a surprising statement, which is about the Milky Way galaxy will collide with the Andromeda galaxy. But the collision will not occur in the near future. Major impacts are expected to occur in the next 4 billion years.

NASA concluded that based on the results of observations made by the Hubble Space Telescope. The data from the world’s largest space telescope showed that the Andromeda galaxy is moving quickly now towards the Milky Way.

In the universe, galaxy collisions is a process of galaxy mergers. On collision that will occur, the speed of Andromeda is estimated at 1.92 million km per hour. Although the collision speed is very fast, but the merger will not be short-lived. The galaxy merger will take about 2 billion years.

Despite a terrible collision, scientists estimate the Earth and the Sun will remain safe, because the position of the Earth and Sun are in galactic space. Effects will be felt on the Earth is view the night sky from the earth. The ceiling of the night will be adorned with a view of Andromeda.

NASA statement reinforces the results of research conducted by Avi Loeb, an astronomer at Harvard University. Collisions between galaxies are of much less likely to miss. The collision will not occur only if the Andromeda galaxy moves laterally with a speed six times higher than that predicted by astronomers.

Milky Way and Andromeda galaxy is two similarly sized galaxy and almost the same age, about 10 billion years. Because almost the same, the scientists difficult to estimate which galaxy will experience the most severe damage. However, astronomers have to prepare names for the newly merged galaxy that will be formed as the galaxy Milkomeda.

Tractable predictions of the scientists, at the time of galaxy mergers Milkomeda completed in the next 4 billion years, the Sun still has the age of 2 billion years before death. At the time the Sun dies, it will become a red giant star which is likely to engulf the surrounding planets like Mercury, Venus and Earth. That’s when life on Earth would be difficult to survive and as the end of our Earth.