It has been more than eight years now that scientists have represented a statement regarding the Milky Way Collision, ‘The Milky Way, our galaxy, will collide with the big spiraling neighbor in four billion years.’ But now it seems like it won’t take 4 billion years, and maybe the time is too near.
What galaxy will collide with the Milky Way?
The Andromeda galaxy is the nearest spiral galaxy to the Milky Way space. In 2014, it was analyzed that The Milky Way and Andromeda Galaxy are around 2.5 million light-years away. Despite the distance, recently, research has concluded that the galaxy collision between the Andromeda galaxy and the Milky Way has begun.
These two galaxies are speeding toward each other at 402,000 kilometers per hour, propelled by gravity. It has been predicted that the Andromeda galaxy and the Milky Way space will collide and travel into each other, leaving behind gassy, starry tentacles. Collisions between galaxies are thought to take place 4 billion years from now. But as per NASA, at a pace of around 70 miles (113 kilometers) every second, the Andromeda galaxy is speeding toward the Milky Way. Considering this factor, NASA stated that the galaxy collision would occur in five billion years. However, a new study released in the peer-reviewed Astrophysical Journal in August 2020 revealed that the galaxy collision between the Andromeda galaxy and the Milky Way is already occurring.
Project AMIGA (Absorption Map of Ionized Gas in Andromeda) provided the news regarding the advancement of the Milky Way collision. Project AMIGA researchers used the Hubble Space Telescope, which is being used to study the Andromeda galaxy’s deep-space surrounds. And via this observation, NASA got information regarding the galaxy collision. NASA stated this study as the most comprehensive study of a halo surrounding a galaxy.
Are these two galaxies touching their surface yet?
After getting to know this fascinating factor regarding the Milky Way collision, the question is, ‘ is there a touching between the halos of the Milky Way and Andromeda galaxies?’ Well, here is the answer. NASA can’t simply measure the properties of the galaxy’s halo from the vantage point within the Milky Way space.
Although the Milky Way and Andromeda galaxies are comparable in size and structure, astronomers believe the Milky Way’s halo will be similar. Put another way, the indistinct halos of both galaxies appear to be touching one another. Therefore, NASA has reported that the galaxy collision between the Andromeda galaxy and the Milky Way space has begun.
