Galactic pile-up could bring end of the world:…
Forget killer asteroids and nuclear annihilation — Earth’s final destiny might hinge on a cosmic coin toss.
Astronomers have revealed that our Milky Way galaxy has a 50/50 likelihood of colliding with its huge neighbor, the Andromeda galaxy, someday in the next 10 billion years — an intergalactic smash-up that could fling our photo voltaic system into deep space or swallow Earth complete.
Cue the sci-fi panic — or not.
“It used to appear destined to merge with Andromeda forming a colossal ‘Milkomeda,’” mentioned Professor Alis Deason, a computational cosmologist at Durham University, per The Daily Mail.
“Now, there is a chance that we could avoid this fate entirely.”
In different phrases: The end of the world will not be as inevitable as we thought — at least not from the galaxy next door.
It’s a cosmic coin toss: Astronomers say the Milky Way has a 50/50 shot at slamming into the giant Andromeda galaxy — a galactic practice wreck that could hurl Earth into deep space or gobble it up for good. NASA/ESA/AFP via Getty Images
The new research, printed in “Nature Astronomy,” analyzed 100,000 simulations of the Milky Way’s future.
The findings — thanks to refined information from NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope and the European Space Agency’s Gaia mission — dramatically downshifted earlier predictions of a assured galactic pile-up in just 5 billion years.
“In short, the probability went from near-certainty to a coin flip,” lead writer Dr. Till Sawala, of the University of Helsinki, revealed to Space.com.
The findings issue in the gravitational tug of neighboring galaxies — most notably the Large Magellanic Cloud, a a lot smaller satellite tv for pc galaxy whose pull could also be yanking the Milky Way off a crash course.
“The main difference between our research and previous studies is that we benefited from newer and more precise data, and that we considered a more complete system,” Sawala mentioned to the website.
While a 220,000 mph galaxy-on-galaxy collision sounds catastrophic, astronomers say a head-on affect is “very unlikely.”
New information from NASA’s Hubble and Europe’s Gaia missions just pumped the brakes on doomsday, slashing the odds of a galactic fender-bender once pegged for 5 billion years out. Nature Astronomy
In truth, only 2% of simulations confirmed a direct hit within 5 billion years. Most eventualities had the galaxies swirling toward each different, presumably merging a lot later — or not at all.
Still, if they do collide, it could be a literal star show.
“We see external galaxies often colliding and merging with other galaxies, sometimes producing the equivalent of cosmic fireworks,” mentioned Durham cosmologist Professor Carlos Frenk, via The Daily Mail.
“Until now, we thought this was the fate that awaited our Milky Way galaxy. We now know that there is a very good chance that we may avoid that scary destiny.”
But even if Earth sidesteps this stellar shakedown, don’t get too comfy.
As The Post beforehand reported, our solar is anticipated to grow to be a bloated pink giant in about 5 billion years — doubtless boiling away Earth’s oceans or swallowing the planet completely.
So, yeah. Pick your apocalypse.
The new research exhibits close by galaxies — particularly the smaller but mighty Large Magellanic Cloud — are messing with the Milky Way’s path, presumably steering it away from a cosmic crash. ESA/ATG medialab / SWNS
“If [the Milky Way-Andromeda collision] happens, it might take place after the Earth and the sun no longer exist,” Sawala instructed The Daily Mail.
“Even if it happens before that, it’s very unlikely that something would happen to Earth in this case.”
Translation: By the time the universe will get around to smashing the Milky Way, we’ll in all probability already be toast.
Still, some consultants say galactic destiny is more than just an astronomer’s obsession.
“The fate of our Milky Way galaxy is a subject of broad interest — not just to astronomers,” Raja GuhaThakurta of the University of California, Santa Cruz, instructed the Associated Press.
And while the galaxy may survive — barely — we might not.
As Sawala put it: “Of course, there is also a very significant chance that humanity will bring an end to itself still much before that, without any need for astrophysical help.”
Talk about a stellar self-own.
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