Andromeda And The Milky Way Might Collide Sooner Than We Think

Universe Today via io9 ^ | May 16, 2015 | Bob King

[ETL]

The merger of the Milky Way and Andromeda galaxy won’t happen for another 4 billion years, but the recent discovery of a massive halo of hot gas around Andromeda may mean our galaxies are already touching.

Andromeda’s halo is gargantuan. Extending for at least 2 million light years, if we could see in our night sky it would be 100 times the diameter of the Moon or 50 degrees across! [the entire sky, from horizon to horizon, is approx 180 deg -ETL] Credit: NASA

University of Notre Dame astrophysicist Nicholas Lehner led a team of scientists using the Hubble Space Telescope to identify an enormous halo of hot, ionized gas at least 2 million light years in diameter surrounding the galaxy.

The Andromeda Galaxy is the largest member of a ragtag collection of some 54 galaxies, including the Milky Way, called the Local Group. With a trillion stars — twice as many as the Milky Way — it shines 25% brighter and can easily be seen with the naked eye from suburban and rural skies.

[ETL]

Wasn't sure if I should have posted this in "Breaking News" or not. :) Anyway, a lightyear, the *distance* light travels in a year at its speed of 186,000 miles per second, works out to about 5.9 TRILLION miles.

[PROCON]

And then we’re all going to die?.....Again?

[ETL]

Yes, who or whatever “we” are in 4 or so billion years from now.

[VanShuyten]

“... but the recent discovery of a massive halo of hot gas around Andromeda may mean our galaxies are already touching.”

The REAL cause of global warming!

[ConorMacNessa]

WE'RE DOOMED!!!

"I am an American fighting man. I serve in the forces which guard my country and our way of life.
I am prepared to give my life in their defense."

[Ken H]

There’s still time to prep, but don’t dawdle. Heed the fable of the grasshopper and the ant.

[TBP]

Will the FTC approve the merger?

[Teotwawki]

Cause of global warming? Nah. They’ll be telling us this is a result of global warming.

[BigCinBigD]

Maybe we can shoot it down!

[BenLurkin]

You have to admit — having another galaxy close enough to see like that would be very cool.

[Larry Lucido]

Looks like a buzz-saw.

[cripplecreek]

Somebody throw a rock and cause one of us to speed up?

[justlurking]

There goes the neighborhood.

[Harmless Teddy Bear]

WE'RE DOOMED!!!

:Puts the salad back in the fridge and gets out the chocolate mousse.:

[17th Miss Regt]

Can’t we find a way to blame it on either George Bush or the oppressive policies of the Zionist occupation?

[BitWielder1]

We can measure the radial velocity (how fast it's coming towards us) with good precision but I don't think we have any way to measure the sideways velocity of something that far away.
It could miss us on either side with considerable margin.
Even if it does collide with us, the process will take many hundreds of thousands of years, actual star collisions will be rare.
Gas clouds will merge, we can expect a lot of star formations over the following millions of years.
It will be an interesting place.

[skimbell]

[Tolerance Sucks Rocks]

The merger of the Milky Way and Andromeda galaxy won’t happen for another 4 billion years, but the recent discovery of a massive halo of hot gas around Andromeda may mean our galaxies are already touching.

Man, those Andromedans sure do eat a lot of burritos!

DANG!

[C210N]

won’t happen for another 4 billion years...

See, so there is still time for the Marxists to finally get it right.

[Tolerance Sucks Rocks]

There must be a lot of Terrence and Philip types in the Andromeda galaxy.

PING!