• Question: when the milkyway collides with another galaxy will we survive

    Asked by 08caseb to Alan, Caspar, Murray, Sarah on 24 Mar 2011.
    • Photo: Sarah Thomas

      Sarah Thomas answered on 24 Mar 2011:


      The Andromeda–Milky Way collision is a predicted galaxy collision that could possibly take place in approximately 3 to 5 billion years’ time between the two largest galaxies in the Local Group – the Andromeda Galaxy and the Milky Way, which contains Earth. If that happened, we certainly wouldn’t survive.

      However, there is, as yet, no way to know whether the possible collision is definitely going to happen or not. While it is known that the Andromeda galaxy is getting closer to the Milky Way by about 120 km/s, there is no way to tell whether it is going to collide or miss.

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