The Andromeda galaxy was created in a collision between two smaller galaxies, scientists have revealed. The international team of astronomers have created a computer simulation of its creation over time. The two smaller galaxies first collided 9.5 billion years ago, then they finally fused 5 billion years ago. This new research is believed by scientists to help us understand the formation and beginning of our own galaxy, the Milky Way.
For more information, please visit:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-11833356
http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2010/11/23/andromeda-born-out-of-a-massive-collision/
You know this brings me out. Hmm, let’s see: Earth and the solar sytesm will probably just go along for the ride and are in no danger of being destroyed. Then: M31 slams into the Milky Way head-on and the stars are all scattered into different orbits. Also: it will take an additional two billion years after the encounter for the interacting galaxies to completely merge under the tug of gravity and reshape into a single elliptical galaxy similar to the kind commonly seen in the local universe. Wow. I love how they write in the local universe, like it’s a neighborhood and we’re talking about two grocers merging into one store. . . .The universe is incredible. I saw a picture of one of those donut galaxies with young stars around an empty-ish region and older stars in the center. WILD!Time to lie down.