ScienceCasts: Andromeda vs. the Milky Way: Astronomers Predict a Titanic Collision

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Astronomers no longer have any doubt: Our Milky Way Galaxy will have a head-on collision with Andromeda. Fortunately, they say, Earth will survive when the two great star systems meet 4 billions years from now.

[@rodthrust2085]

OMG! We're all going to die! Our politicians in Washington should pass a law so this doesn't happen!

[@rjshhooba6624]

4 billion years in the future I will be 4 billion years ago

[@logandybowski2059]

Poor M33 alone out there a couple of million light years away

[@patrick3090]

I would want to stay alive for 4 billion years just to die from that.

[@thesuperpierre59]

Corrosive Cheetuh except that there is no chance that you would die from it

[@797ization]

Distances from the core are a lot more important than you care to admit.

[@Hunnah0055]

so if there is aliens in other galaxies in a few billion years we will finally know for sure lol

[@PanzerX7]

Just so that no one starts to worry, we are actually involved in a galactic collision with the Large Magellanic Cloud right now.

[@Scumbot404]

Imagine the moment when the fading sun can't anymore hold our planets on their orbits. Slightly they get farer and farer until this part of the milky way is just empty space. Quite a scary thought.

[@AutoPsychotic]

If we survive ourselves that long, certainly.

[@AutoPsychotic]

Fairly certain it will happen before we ever collide with Andromeda.

[@sanduw]

Galaxies which are close enough to each other such that they have bigger enough gravitational pull to overcome the repulsive force of expansion, head towards each other. Such is the case for Milky Way and Andromeda. Gravitational force between 2 objects gets weaker 4 times if the distance between them is doubled. So for a pair of galaxies with a much larger distance between them, repulsive force wins and they head away from each other, i.e. the universe expands. Hope this helps.

[@E-Man5805]

Let's get the Super Gurren to speed the process up a lil' bit.

[@menamac60]

If the universe is expanding, why are galaxies heading toward each other? Genuine question as I'm not well versed in these matters.

[@antony492]

Incredible, wish I could be alive to see this happen!

[@PenguinTD]

And life on Earth is even shorter, another billion years that Sun might be too hot for liquid water to exist. Life sure is a short spark in the cosmos time scale.

[@nataligomez5948]

Wish that we could see it! DX Who knows?

[@jan51951]

How can this be possible ? Since all the galaxies are suppose to be moving away from each other.

[@target007]

in 4 billion years, good to know it already.

[@eoiggj]

why this can't happen right now. i wanna see that night sky.

[@markymoviemaker]

how can andromeda be flying towards us if huble discovered it was a seperate galaxy (instead of a dust cloud inside the milky way) because of its larger red shift (Doppler-effect). That would mean it's flying away from us, right?

[@1MuchButteR1]

I can't trust this when we started understanding the universe only 80 years ago.

[@VictorKidd53]

It's kInda hard to believe the time when they will collide,, since we can't predict the weather accurately past 3 days lol

[@BosonCollider]

In 4 billion years? Earth wouldn't really be affected by the collision. However it also wouldn't have have much time left with the sun being about to die regardless. In a sense, Andromeda colliding with the milky way means we'd have twice as many new places to move to if humanity still exists by then.

[@Scumbot404]

Galaxies are like 95% empty space. This means two galaxies can go thru eachother without a single star or planet collisions.

[@lightsidemaster]

ok.... so I just gotta become 4 billions years old... Seriously, I wanna see that happen so badly

[@AutoPsychotic]

What a thing to imagine!

[@TheXxkornmunkyx666]

I wish I could fast forward 4 billion years just to see the night sky.

[@QuadratIntel]

Hey NASA guys! Quit screwing around in the outfield, the ball is in the infield.

[@Carlito0220]

At 0:20, like how many years away is andromeda from earth at that time ?

[@killerslayer543]

Actually that will happen afterwards.

[@starstruck010277]

andromeda is blue shifted..one of the few galaxies moving towards us

[@ShadowGen001]

wait i thought the the sun starts dieing around 5 million years from now, so how will the earth and our sun be perfectly fine when the galaxies combine 4 billion years from now?

[@billybobjohn8955]

In 4 billion years, the sun would have bloated to most probably a red giant which would have swallowed earth by then. So much for "nothing will happen to earth" :D

[@ASMRunning]

i knew about this a year ago...

[@poopermcdouchebag8160]

By the time the two galaxies collide, we'll probably be extinct or have evolved into something that is not human.

[@thomasgibbons1935]

well, considering in the vid it says the sun will be slingshot elsewhere Andromeda's sun may turn into our new sun

[@Dyslexic-Artist-Theory-on-Time]

This is something to look forward too! Good vid!

[@MaxSafeheaD]

oooh, I can't wait ...

[@libraryquiet]

Your first point makes no sense at all unless your talking about the remnants, a white dwarf, black hole or neutron star. The explosion would last about a millionth of a second, we would see the expansion and energy released from that explosion. The brightness of a nova dies out quickly no matter what size the star. Betelgeuse is red because it's running out of nuclear fuel to cause fusion. It starts blowing out it's outer shell of gas and becomes a red giant. I don't pretend to know., I know.

[@Pop77o7]

Well. None of us really have much to worry about since the galaxies will merge long after our solar system ends. lol

[@aleksgorskov]

In 4x10^9 years from now humans will have been long gone on Earth but undoubtedly send out their spores throughout neighbouring planet candidates , like Kepler-22b some 600 light years away, giving new life opportunities there. So perhaps someone somewhere with genes similar to ours will eventually look at the sky and see this magnificent panorama.

[@squidb8]

I thought solar system was near the rim.

[@libraryquiet]

Why is it a scary thought?

[@Malyan402]

well, damn it! I wanna be around to see that.

[@CallebarnOrginal]

***Universe*** Our home***

[@dominique1248]

Oh no! we're all going to die! oh wait a minute that's right ill be dead by then

[@M2ArcAng3l]

what about when the sun or earth gets thrown about and were no longer in the Goldilocks zone....

[@Carlito0220]

2:24 You think the earth would survive that O.o ?

[@AutoPsychotic]

Yep.

[@AutoPsychotic]

In our neck of the woods, sure... but chances are life is abundant in the universe. We here on Earth are insignificant in the grand scheme of things, at least to anything other than ourselves.

[@Kataang101]

LOL human empire. I like your way of seeing us.

[@nikkishaewonstan]

whoop whoop whoop earth will have another friendly or annoying neighbour...

[@AutoPsychotic]

That's the plan.

[@nobody2612]

btw hercules will come first but yes its just a nebula so it will just shock the galaxy.

[@alain001]

no you didn't, you thought it might happen because nasa outposted a theory. now they just confirmed the previous theory is likely to occur.

[@PrasadJachak]

I hope i will see this day...

[@thedeviluknow]

If you're alive in almost 4 Billion years I'm sure it will make a lovely sight.

[@thesuperpierre59]

Prasad Jachak exept that the collision will go veeeeeeeeeeeeerrryyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy slowly

[@BosonCollider]

Indeed. There's even a backup(Crows & Ravens) which could take over that role in case we kill ourselves off. With maybe half a million years of evolution Crows could probably end up as intelligent as we are now. They're spread out across the world and should be immune to most diseases that could spring up in human biowarfare.

[@ZeroCraft4000]

I new this already...

[@solarcradle]

STEREO, SMEI, Hubble and many other spacecrafts provide us with data in which we try to predict when for galactic collision. How far back does the data go? Is 50-100 years of data enough to make these types of predictions? What's a few billion years here or there? :)

[@1MuchButteR1]

What does that have to do with anything.

[@Carbosful]

lol... 4 billion years? We will most likely be able to colonize or at least reach distant galaxies by 100 million years.

[@etmax1]

Whenever celestial bodies are thrown about stuff goes everywhere. I very much doubt anyone can guarantee the the result won't be like in the early days of the solar system when the planets were peppered with interstellar debris. Sure it won't be guaranteed to happen, but my guess is 1/10,000 chance of something fatal, and 1/100 of extinction events. Of course we're more than likely to have suffered some other fate before then.

[@Xpeeria]

I wish i could be there to see ;)

[@ICUcreativegroup]

maybe we'll just make it to another star system before the sun pops!

[@tekal85]

Maybe NASA finds a way to bend space time, so the US can exploit the rest of the universe. Good Luck. My best wishes.

[@HORRORTV1]

True vacuums don't exist.

[@noble6TheReachGod]

or we'll be living on another planet

[@carrrmen16]

can i have some too??

[@squidb8]

Betelgeuse is far enough away that we will only get a snazzy light show and less sleep; it will be like having two sons. However our population would have imploded long before this event takes place.

[@JCMoviesFTW]

Where do you get those pictures new 1:50 ?

[@GiveMeAnOKUsername]

Surely some stars will collide?

[@ulibarriL]

No kidding. I mean, it's logical to conclude that out of the billions of stars from both galaxies, especially those close to their centers, there is going to be some collisions of stars and planets. It's going to be billions of years of chaos before things finally settle down, and these cosmic events is how our own solar system was created. However, I believe (not quite sure) that our solar system sits on the outskirts of the milky way. So while I don't think anyone can say that the sun, Earth, and entire solar system will be ok, it is possible to say that there is a reduced risk of collisions in comparison to those closer to the center, which in all relativity is two massive black holes drawing each other together.

[@CarooYT]

For the Empire!!!

[@nobody2612]

ah another puzzle. No youre wrong. The sun will die silently. Andromeda will slice milky way. Andromeda much bigger. Hence andromeda weds perseus or the northern stars. Yes, youre galaxy will be reduced to atoms. Greek stories are fun because they hide notions of things like wed. Weddings are like one person survives the other dies. The male spider gets eaten by the female. One star escapes a great movement etc. Easy Wedding. Sex of the planets.

[@AelfricLake]

how can you claim it's impossible to figure things out in 100 years time if you have the right mindset and tools? you can't. cuz it happens.

[@pglpland]

Instructif !

[@DavidLPeavy]

First of all our sun will have already gone thru the death phases...life on earth will cease to exist by the time the two or three galaxies merge. As for stars in the Milky Way galaxy...the stars will be tossed and some even thrown out of the galaxy all together. The collision of the two galaxies will be far worse than what they're suggesting. Let's hope by then that mankind is roaming the galaxies and that our new homes won't be affected.

[@nobody2612]

andromeda leaves 'unscaved' meaning your galaxy is fuck'd.

[@thegatorhator6822]

Oh yes NASA are trying to stop mass panic by lying that the Earth will be destroyed 4 billion years from now... I'm so worried myself, I'm going to die by 4 billion years. I always wanted to hit the big 5 billion D:

[@FaceofFrequency]

in 4 billion years our sun won't even be a red giant anymore....it'll a lame brown dwarf by then. earth long gone. but you conveyed the critical notion.

[@MatthewJS25]

By then hopefully we will have colonized millions of planets for the human empire.

[@ShadowGen001]

oh ok

[@TheY2T]

Its so cool to be in a galaxy thats going to collide with another in billions of years time =]. hehehe.

[@thomasgibbons1935]

stop with the dark comments please

[@AutoPsychotic]

Earth might not. Chances are it will be swallowed by the expanding mass of what will by then be our red giant sun.

[@TheWalkfu]

If scientific theories are correct and time is just a construct of the mind then this has already happened . nice try ,try to trick me with a time frame. It was a pretty cool collision the next time I say full steam ahead . 3 galaxies running into each other . So silly, They should watch where they're going..

[@MrDiddymandarlo]

well no, because in 3 billion years (or less) the Earth and The Solar System won't even be there... hate it when different videos forget about other information

[@Gigihhcgfdhggfwf]

Well it be cooll but I think that we human will longer live anymore in tge next 4 billions of years

[@trplpwr]

Let's pick one day where everybody goes outside and flaps their arms and we'll move this sucker somewhere else.

[@killerslayer543]

Yes but it only begins to go red giant at the time. Hopefully we will have colonized other planets.

[@GamersUnitedGaming]

Halo

[@74lorentzen]

makes me glad we don't live forever lol

[@alain001]

cryogenic sleep! :-)

[@Krypton1821]

i wanna see this happen :< REINCARNATION PLEASE!!! :))

[@rainopm8507]

well :)

[@BIGGG789]

Commung

[@ronaldolopez2101]

Humans will not exist because the sun will explode

[@ghassanel.6049]

if nasa finds a other habitbal planet we will sure survive the sun death

[@PouresMaggie]

The Sun is "scheduled" to die out in 6 billion years, so the collision will happen just before that. The Sun might have already turned into a Red Giant by that time. Whichever the case, I'm pretty sure at least Earth won't be around.... or rather, humans. XD

[@schadara]

I look forward to having a new galactic address. I am growing le tired of our current galactic neighbors.

[@Scumbot404]

¬¬

[@nalinakumar9229]

Don't worry. Plant Earth may survive the galactic collision 4 billion years from now. But we humans, wont last another 100 years, in this rapidly warming Mother Earth...