Milky Way Galaxy Will Collide With Andromeda Galaxy, Says Nasa
Astronomers have predicted that the Milky Way galaxy will collide with Andromeda galaxy in the future. Credit:Nasa

The Milky Way galaxy will collide with Andromeda galaxy in the future, according to a new report.

Astronomers from the Nasa have found that our Milky Way galaxy is destined to collide with Andromeda galaxy which is going to happen after four billion years.

Scientists found out this when they were analysing motion of Andromeda galaxy with the Hubble Space Telescope.

"This was accomplished by repeatedly observing select regions of the galaxy over a five- to seven-year period," said Jay Anderson, astronomer at the Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI).

Astronomers also found that when this collision occurs the Sun will be flung into a new region of our galaxy, but the Earth and solar system are in no danger of being destroyed.

"Our findings are statistically consistent with a head-on collision between the Andromeda galaxy and our Milky Way galaxy," said Roeland van der Marel, scientists at the Space Telescope Science Institute.

The study revealed that Andromeda, which also is known as M31 is inexorably falling toward the Milky Way under the mutual pull of gravity between the two galaxies and the invisible dark matter that surrounds them both.

Astronomers claim that Andromeda galaxy or M31 is moving toward the Milky Way at about 250,000 miles per hour. That is fast enough to travel from here to the moon in one hour.

The galaxy is 2.5 million light-years away but after four billion years it will collide with our galaxy.

"After nearly a century of speculation about the future destiny of Andromeda and our Milky Way, we at last have a clear picture of how events will unfold over the coming billions of years," said Sangmo Tony Sohn, scientists at the Space Telescope Science Institute, in a statement.

The universe is expanding and accelerating and collisions between galaxies in close proximity to each other still happen because they are bound by the gravity of the dark matter surrounding them.

The Hubble Space Telescope's deep views of the universe show such encounters between galaxies were more common in the past when the universe was smaller, according to Nasa scientists.

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