Somebody Pull That Galaxy Over For Speeding
One of the things I've learned as a parent is not to tell my kids about the future of our solar system -- you know, that the sun will burn out and swallow all the planets in several billion years and all that. When one of your kids is 5 years old, they can translate billions of years into tomorrow morning. Kinda scary.
So I definitely won't tell them that our Milky Way galaxy will collide with the nearby Andromeda galaxy two billion years sooner than expected, according to a report in news@nature.com. Worse, the scientists exploring this future phenomenon using computer simulations say there is a chance Andromeda will steal our sun! Scoundrels! Rapscallions!
Scientists have long known the two galaxies were headed for a crash -- they are headed toward each other at a speed of 120 kilometers a second. (Do you feel like we're moving that fast? No wonder I feel dizzy.) But we are still 2 million light years apart, so we've got eons to get ready. Now they believe there is a chance that humans will still be on the Earth when the two galaxies actually start to mingle with each other. Although in 2 billion years, all humans will look like Ziggy Stardust ... just kidding.
Over a period of half a million years, the two galaxies will pass through each other, with individual stars passing through the gaps (the chances that two stars might collide are very slim). Many of the stars will be gravitationally perturbed by the collision -- some may even be ripped from one Galaxy and take up residence in the other.
The galaxies will brush by each other again in 3.5 billion years, and then, in 5 billion years, turn into a big blob of galaxy, which the scientists have named "Milkomeda."
Milkomeda? Sounds like a 24-hour cable channel about all things bovine.
Still, who knew our galaxy was so troublesome? Meteors that barely miss the Earth. Suns burning out. Now it might be ripped away. You would think if life was going to develop anywhere in the universe, it could have picked a quieter neighborhood.
5:12 PM ET | 05-15-2007 | permalink
