Astrophysicist Luke Davies, from The University of Western Australia node of the International Centre for Radio Astronomy Research (ICRAR), says our nearest major galactic neighbour, Andromeda, is hurtling on a collision course with the Milky Way at about 400,000 kilometres per hour.
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| Source: ICRAR |
“Don’t panic yet, the two won’t smash into each other for another four billion years or so,” he says. “But investigating such cosmic collisions lets us better understand how galaxies grow and evolve.”
So what will happen in four billion years to the Milky Way and Andromeda? Dr Davies says the pair are like “cosmic tanks”—both relatively large and with similar mass.
“As they get closer together they will begin to affect each other’s star formation, and will continue to do so until they eventually merge to become a new galaxy, which some call ‘Milkdromeda’,” he says.
