The end of the Milky Way galaxy as we know it
Source: CNN
(CNN) - Our Milky Way galaxy is an anomaly in more ways than one. And now, NASA scientists say they know exactly when it will come to an end. In a universe that is forever spreading apart, the Milky Way has been moving closer to celestial neighbor the Andromeda galaxy. But whether we are in for intergalactic Armageddon or an extraterrestrial fender bender has been a mystery -- until now.
"Very interestingly, we find that Andromeda galaxy does appear to be coming straight at us," said Roeland van der Marel, an astronomer at the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore. He was scheduled to speak at a NASA press conference Thursday.
The discovery was made thanks to images taken over the 22-year lifespan of the Hubble Space Telescope. But the quest to determine the Milky Way galaxy's expiration date has been undertaken by astronomers for more than 100 years. Now, for the first time, NASA scientists say they know "with certainty" when our beloved galaxy will cease to exist as we know it, what it will look like and how it will happen.
New data collected by the Hubble Space Telescope proves, NASA says, that in 4 billion years the Milky Way and Andromeda will collide or pass each other by so closely that the gravitational force each exerts on the other will cause them to slow down to the point of merging. The merger will be completed 6 billion years from now.
Read more: http://www.abcactionnews.com/dpp/news/science_tech/the-end-of-the-milky-way-galaxy-as-we-know-it
jberryhill
(62,444 posts)may3rd
(593 posts)Lucky for us, the world ends on 12/21/2012
freshwest
(53,661 posts)valerief
(53,235 posts)Nuclear Unicorn
(19,497 posts)Ian David
(69,059 posts)onehandle
(51,122 posts)Blue_Tires
(55,445 posts)Iliyah
(25,111 posts)getting closer to Mittens relatives and their GAWD?
malthaussen
(17,183 posts)... and the orgasm is gonna be something!
-- Mal
sinkingfeeling
(51,444 posts)kenfrequed
(7,865 posts)The sun will have expanded and gone all red by then and the planet will be a cinder.
Lasher
(27,553 posts)But now that's all pretty much academic. Dammit, I thought we had another 5 billion years to go and now it looks like we only have 4 billion.
jeff47
(26,549 posts)Galaxies are mostly empty space. It's very unlikely that anything from Andromeda will hit our solar system.
It's expected we'll have a larger, more elliptical orbit around the center of the new, merged galaxy. But that's not gonna destroy anything.
FiveGoodMen
(20,018 posts)jeff47
(26,549 posts)As the sun moves through the main sequence, it's gonna get hotter. In about 3 billion years, it's going to be hot enough to boil all the water off the Earth.
So if a billion years later we're farther from the sun, that would actually get us closer to our current climate.
But that empty space means it's very unlikely that there will be any effect on Earth's orbit.
I didn't say it would stay red. I was describing how it would end the earth.
jeff47
(26,549 posts)The sun is going to stay about the same size for the next 5 billion years.
jeff47
(26,549 posts)Which puts it a billion years after the collision.
However, all water on Earth is expected to boil away in about 3 billion years as the sun moves through the main sequence. It just won't be a red giant yet.
randome
(34,845 posts)That doesn't mean humanity will be gone, though.
LynneSin
(95,337 posts)The Milky Way is NOT an anomaly. It's a perfectly normal galaxy, one of billions that are similar. And galaxies collide all the time.
We live at an anomalously early point in the history of the universe, to be sure, but that's got nothing to do with the particular galaxy we're in, rather some other factor about the eventual role of intelligences in universes we have yet to surmise. Or maybe pure random chance although that's less likely.
nahant
(93 posts)I can't wait to watch this happen ☺ ☺ ☺
MinneapolisMatt
(1,550 posts)n/t
jeff47
(26,549 posts)TalkingDog
(9,001 posts)On the up side, we did run the Klan meeting, scheduled in our area, to out of state.
awoke_in_2003
(34,582 posts)you guys have the barrier islands. I try to get to Atlantic Beach every couple years.
Response to MinneapolisMatt (Reply #16)
bupkus This message was self-deleted by its author.
cynatnite
(31,011 posts)qb
(5,924 posts)Gore1FL
(21,122 posts)Space itself is expanding, but close galaxies are traveling through it towards one another due to that attraction at a rate faster than the expansion of the space it is traveling through.
Response to Gore1FL (Reply #21)
bupkus This message was self-deleted by its author.
kenfrequed
(7,865 posts)I sort of imagined it as droplets of mist on the skin of an expanding balloon... but that isn't quite right either.
Gore1FL
(21,122 posts)I should have used acceleration instead of rate.
Uncle Joe
(58,338 posts)Which galaxy is farther away or younger from the origins of the Big Bang and why is the other catching up?
Fearless
(18,421 posts)Arugula Latte
(50,566 posts)dixiegrrrrl
(60,010 posts)bulloney
(4,113 posts)SWTORFanatic
(385 posts)Odin2005
(53,521 posts)dbackjon
(6,578 posts)Response to onehandle (Original post)
bupkus This message was self-deleted by its author.
may3rd
(593 posts)ZombieHorde
(29,047 posts)joshcryer
(62,269 posts)100 billion years from now we'll have a super galaxy (trillions of stars).
Poll_Blind
(23,864 posts)What're the monthly premiums on that shit?
PB
grantcart
(53,061 posts)greiner3
(5,214 posts)By the title I thought the OP might be a story about Newt's big head exploding or something similar.
Odin2005
(53,521 posts)BanTheGOP
(1,068 posts)It is that simple. IF the GOP wins, we destroy ourselves through war, famine, and an impossible to bridge gulf between the Romneyites and the vast majority of humanity. If Obama wins, the much-needed legislation will ensure that we survive as a species, and our progressive, collectivist nature will allow our intelligence to survive in a post-galactic environment.
Starboard Tack
(11,181 posts)jmondine
(1,649 posts)Rosa Luxemburg
(28,627 posts)so that's OK
Maven
(10,533 posts)FiveGoodMen
(20,018 posts)If we have living descendants 4 billion years from now, we'd never recognize them.
More likely, we'll be long gone before that.
sylvi
(813 posts)Nasty little buggers.