4 ms·

Hubble captures new image of two colliding galaxies

34 points by sndean 9y ago

woliveirajr 9y ago
> (...) destined to spend millions of years colliding into each other before finally merging into a galaxy all their own. > (...) about 350 million light-years from Earth. So, they are already together, the problem is that light is just _too_ slow so we cannot see it yet. :)
netcraft 9y ago
Same thing is going to happen to us (the milky way) and Andromeda in about 4 billion years. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andromeda%E2%80%93Milky_Way_collision https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andromeda%E2%80%93Milky_Way_co...
- clayt6 9y ago
  For more on the Andromeda/Milky Way collision: http://cs.astronomy.com/asy/b/astronomy/archive/2018/02/08/the-great-galactic-mashup-what-can-we-expect.aspx http://cs.astronomy.com/asy/b/astronomy/archive/2018/02/08/t...
ChuckMcM 9y ago
"... an exciting galactic collision is underway." Seriously? Think about the civilizations that are about to be wiped out, the life forms that no one will ever know about, the ginormous black hole that will just get bigger. Ok, so I'm only kind of serious. In the scheme of things all things change. I expect time is limited to less than a megayear for the systems on the edges of the arms like ours is on the Milky Way.
- mikeash 9y ago
  I don’t think a galactic collision is a particularly serious event for life. The stars are so sparse that the galaxies basically pass through each other. Their large scale structure is disrupted, but that won’t kill anything living in a solar system.
  - briga 9y ago
    If anything I suspect a galactic collision would be a driver of increased star formation, and thus a catalyst for galactic recycling and chemical evolution within that Galaxy. It could even be something that leads to higher rates of biological evolution. And like you said, the distance between the stars is what prevents this from being a total catastrophe.
  - ASalazarMX 9y ago
    What about disturbing their Oort cloud analog, spawning rogue comets?

34 points by sndean 9y ago

> (...) destined to spend millions of years colliding into each other before finally merging into a galaxy all their own. > (...) about 350 million light-years from Earth. So, they are already together, the problem is that light is just _too_ slow so we cannot see it yet. :)

netcraft 9y ago

Same thing is going to happen to us (the milky way) and Andromeda in about 4 billion years. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andromeda%E2%80%93Milky_Way_collision https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andromeda%E2%80%93Milky_Way_co...

clayt6 9y ago
For more on the Andromeda/Milky Way collision: http://cs.astronomy.com/asy/b/astronomy/archive/2018/02/08/the-great-galactic-mashup-what-can-we-expect.aspx http://cs.astronomy.com/asy/b/astronomy/archive/2018/02/08/t...

ChuckMcM 9y ago

"... an exciting galactic collision is underway." Seriously? Think about the civilizations that are about to be wiped out, the life forms that no one will ever know about, the ginormous black hole that will just get bigger. Ok, so I'm only kind of serious. In the scheme of things all things change. I expect time is limited to less than a megayear for the systems on the edges of the arms like ours is on the Milky Way.

mikeash 9y ago
I don’t think a galactic collision is a particularly serious event for life. The stars are so sparse that the galaxies basically pass through each other. Their large scale structure is disrupted, but that won’t kill anything living in a solar system.
- briga 9y ago
  If anything I suspect a galactic collision would be a driver of increased star formation, and thus a catalyst for galactic recycling and chemical evolution within that Galaxy. It could even be something that leads to higher rates of biological evolution. And like you said, the distance between the stars is what prevents this from being a total catastrophe.
- ASalazarMX 9y ago
  What about disturbing their Oort cloud analog, spawning rogue comets?