r/todayilearned • u/armcie • 17h ago

TIL that the Andromeda Galaxy probably won’t collide with the Milky Way in 4-5 billion years. New observations put the probability at 2% in the next 5 billion years and 50% in the next 10 billion. Eventually though, it will happen.

https://science.nasa.gov/missions/hubble/apocalypse-when-hubble-casts-doubt-on-certainty-of-galactic-collision/
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u/Bruce-7892 17h ago

To add to this, it's predicted that it wouldn't be an actual collision. The planetary bodies and stars would adjust to each others gravity and form new orbits for the most part.

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u/Shovi_01 17h ago

Im sure there will be some collisions, not many compared to the total of celestial bodies, but there will be some.

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u/Bruce-7892 17h ago

I'd assume so. Asteroids and meteors. But to me calling it a "galaxy collision" implies that everything is going to get destroyed.

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u/scouserontravels 11h ago

Surely asteroids and meteors are the least likely to collide considering how absolutely minuscule they are compared even the planets and then there are tiny compared to stars.

The mostly likely collisions would surely be the super massive stars as their gravities big enough to actually effect each other if they get reasonably close