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Up to 2012, there was no way to know whether the possible collision was definitely going to happen or not. Frank Summers of the [[Space Telescope Science Institute]] created a [[Computer-generated imagery|CGI]] visualization of the predicted event, based on research by Professors Chris Mihos of [[Case Western Reserve University]] and [[Lars Hernquist]] of [[Harvard University]].<ref>[http://hubblesite.org/newscenter/archive/releases/galaxy/2002/09/text/ ''Hubblesite Newscenter:'' Hubble Astronomer Creates Spectacular Galaxy Collision Visualization for the National Air and Space Museum]</ref>
Up to 2012, there was no way to know whether the possible collision was definitely going to happen or not. Frank Summers of the [[Space Telescope Science Institute]] created a [[Computer-generated imagery|CGI]] visualization of the predicted event, based on research by Professors Chris Mihos of [[Case Western Reserve University]] and [[Lars Hernquist]] of [[Harvard University]].<ref>[http://hubblesite.org/newscenter/archive/releases/galaxy/2002/09/text/ ''Hubblesite Newscenter:'' Hubble Astronomer Creates Spectacular Galaxy Collision Visualization for the National Air and Space Museum]</ref>


In 2012, researchers came to conclusion that it is a definite hit after using the Hubble Space Telescope between 2002 and 2010 to painstakingly track the motion of Andromeda.<ref> [http://www.nature.com/doifinder/10.1038/nature.2012.10765 Andromeda on collision course with the Milky Way ]</ref> Such collisions are relatively common. Andromeda, for example, is believed to have collided with at least one other galaxy in the past,<ref>[http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16872449/ "Andromeda involved in galactic collision"] [[MSNBC]] 10:38 a.m. PT 29 January 2007.</ref> and several [[dwarf galaxy|dwarf galaxies]] such as [[SagDEG]] are currently colliding with the Milky Way and being merged into it.
In 2012, researchers came to conclusion that it is a definite hit after using the Hubble Space Telescope between 2002 and 2010 to painstakingly track the motion of Andromeda.<ref> [http://www.nature.com/doifinder/10.1038/nature.2012.10765 Andromeda on collision course with the Milky Way ]</ref> Such collisions are relatively common. Andromeda, for example, is believed to have collided with at least one other galaxy in the past,<ref>[http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16872449/ "Andromeda involved in galactic collision"] [[MSNBC]] 10:38 a.m. PT 29 January 2007.</ref> and several [[dwarf galaxy|dwarf galaxies]] such as [[SagDEG]] are currently colliding with the Milky Way and being merged into it. Such collisions of stellar systems suggest that the Big Bang theory is deficient, that a wide spread evolution of the universe is in fact true.


==The fate of the Solar System==
==The fate of the Solar System==

Revision as of 01:52, 15 June 2012

File:NASA's Hubble Shows Milky Way is Destined for Head-on Collision with Andromeda Galaxy.tif
A NASA conception using combined images.

The Andromeda–Milky Way collision is a predicted galaxy collision that will take place in approximately 4 billion years' time between the two largest galaxies in the Local Group—the Andromeda Galaxy and the Milky Way, which contains the Solar System and Earth.[1][2][3]

Stellar collisions

While the Andromeda Galaxy contains about one trillion (1012) stars and the Milky Way contains about three hundred billion (3x1011); the chance of even two stars colliding is negligible because of the huge distances between each star. For example, the nearest star to the Sun is Proxima Centauri, about 3x107 solar diameters (4x1013 km or 4.2 ly) away. If the Sun were a ping-pong ball in Paris, the equivalent Proxima Centauri would be a pea-sized ball in Berlin (and our galaxy would be about 1.9x107 km wide, about a third of the distance to Mars).

Stars are much denser near the centres of each galaxy with an average separation of only 1.6x1011 km. But that is still a density which represents one ping-pong ball every 3.2 km. Thus, it is extremely unlikely that any two stars may collide.[citation needed]

Certainty

Up to 2012, there was no way to know whether the possible collision was definitely going to happen or not. Frank Summers of the Space Telescope Science Institute created a CGI visualization of the predicted event, based on research by Professors Chris Mihos of Case Western Reserve University and Lars Hernquist of Harvard University.[4]

In 2012, researchers came to conclusion that it is a definite hit after using the Hubble Space Telescope between 2002 and 2010 to painstakingly track the motion of Andromeda.[5] Such collisions are relatively common. Andromeda, for example, is believed to have collided with at least one other galaxy in the past,[6] and several dwarf galaxies such as SagDEG are currently colliding with the Milky Way and being merged into it. Such collisions of stellar systems suggest that the Big Bang theory is deficient, that a wide spread evolution of the universe is in fact true.

The fate of the Solar System

See also: Formation and evolution of the Solar System § Galactic collision and planetary disruption

Two scientists with the Harvard–Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics stated that when, and even whether, the two galaxies collide will depend on Andromeda's transverse velocity.[1] Based on current calculations they predict a 50% chance that in a merged galaxy the solar system will be swept out three times farther from the galactic core than it is currently located.[1] They also predict a 12% chance that the Solar System will be ejected from the new galaxy some time during the collision.[7] Such an event would have no adverse effect on the system and chances of any sort of disturbance to the Sun or planets themselves may be remote.[7][8]

Without intervention, by the time that the two galaxies collide, the surface of the Earth will have already become far too hot for liquid water to exist, ending all terrestrial life, which is currently estimated to occur in about 1.4 billion years due to gradually increasing luminosity of the Sun.[9][10]

Possible quasars

It is believed that the collision between the Milky Way and Andromeda Galaxies could create a quasar.

The quasar, if it were to be created at the center of the Andromeda Galaxy, would be visible from Earth, and would be as bright as the Full Moon despite being 10,000 light years away, but we would not be able to see its accretion disk and it would only appear as a blinking star due to atmospheric fluctuations.

However, if a quasar were to be created at the center of our own Milky Way, we would not be able to see it due to all the dust between our planet and the galactic center. A quasar at the center of the Andromeda Galaxy would be brighter than one at the center of the Milky Way since the black hole at the center of Andromeda is larger than our own galactic center black hole. Of course, as mentioned before, all life on Earth would have been wiped out by this point even if such phenomena were to happen. There is also the possibility that the whole Big Bang thoery is bunk because it proposes all matter moving away from a central point.[11][12][13][14]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c Hazel Muir, "Galactic merger to 'evict' Sun and Earth," New Scientist 4 May 2007
  2. ^ Astronomy, June 2008, p. 28, by Abraham Loeb and T. J. Cox.
  3. ^ Andromeda on collision course with the Milky Way
  4. ^ Hubblesite Newscenter: Hubble Astronomer Creates Spectacular Galaxy Collision Visualization for the National Air and Space Museum
  5. ^ Andromeda on collision course with the Milky Way
  6. ^ "Andromeda involved in galactic collision" MSNBC 10:38 a.m. PT 29 January 2007.
  7. ^ a b Cain, Fraser (2007). "When Our Galaxy Smashes Into Andromeda, What Happens to the Sun?". Universe Today. Archived from the original on 17 May 2007. Retrieved 2007-05-16. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  8. ^ Cox, T. J.; Loeb, Abraham (2007). "The Collision Between The Milky Way And Andromeda". Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. 386: 461. arXiv:0705.1170. Bibcode:2008MNRAS.tmp..333C. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2966.2008.13048.x.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: bibcode (link) CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  9. ^ Schröder, K.-P.; Smith, R. C. (2008). "Distant future of the Sun and Earth revisited". Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. 386 (1): 155. arXiv:0801.4031. Bibcode:2008MNRAS.386..155S. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2966.2008.13022.x.
  10. ^ Carrington, D. (2000-02-21). "Date set for desert Earth". BBC News. Retrieved 2007-03-31.
  11. ^ http://www.galaxydynamics.org/papers/GreatMilkyWayAndromedaCollision.pdf
  12. ^ http://www.jstor.org/pss/3971408
  13. ^ https://www.cfa.harvard.edu/~tcox/localgroup/lg.pdf
  14. ^ Alex Filippenko (University of California, Berkeley) on The Universe Season 4 Episode 10.
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