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Somewhat off-topic, but regarding visualization, we're told that Andromeda is on a collision course with the Milk Way, but also that it is very unlikely that e.
by verytrivial 10y ago
Somewhat off-topic, but regarding visualization, we're told that Andromeda is on a collision course with the Milk Way, but also that it is very unlikely that e.g. the Sun will actually collide with any other stars -- galaxies are approximately empty over all. I have always want to know what it would look like from Earth to see the stars of the two galaxies 'sliding across' the celestial sphere during the merge. Has anyone seen something like that? I search online for it every few years.
- bhaavan 10y agoWell, you will likely see a lot and lot of stars in the sky and that's probably all. The predictable constellations in different months of the year in the night sky will be redefined. But this is going to be a continuous evolving night sky which will take shape over many many generations of human life span. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qnYCpQyRp-4 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qnYCpQyRp-4
- deleted 10y ago[deleted]
- edem 10y agoWell I have just the thing for you: http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/hubble/science/milky-way-collide.html http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/hubble/science/milky-way-c... Ever since I saw this I wish I can live and see how it happens.
- scatters 10y agoEven at closest approach, there won't be any appreciable change in the night sky over a human lifetime. Note that in the gallery at the bottom of http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/hubble/science/milky-way-collide.html http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/hubble/science/milky-way-c... the shortest time between frames is still 50 million years.
- lisper 10y agoFrom the original article: " it will take 4 billion years before the strike. ... it will take an additional two billion years after the encounter for the interacting galaxies to completely merge" Also, it's important to keep in mind that galaxies have a pretty low density. If you shrank the sun down to the size of a ping pong ball, earth would be a poppy seed about 10 feet away. Proxima centauri, the nearest star, would be 500 miles away.
- theandrewbailey 10y agoI understand what you're going for, but by the time it gets exciting, Earth will either be uninhabitable or eaten by the Sun.
- verytrivial 10y agoHeh, yes, I hedged that with what it "would" look like (from a position where the Earth once was). Four to five billion years is a long time.