Latest news with #M33
Yomiuri Shimbun
12-06-2025
- Science
- Yomiuri Shimbun
Lower Chance of Milky Way, Andromeda Merger Detected
NASA / ESA / Z. Levay and R. van der Marel / STScI / T. Hallas and A. Mellinger / Handout via Reuters A stage in the potential merger between the Milky Way galaxy, right, and the neighboring Andromeda galaxy, as viewed in Earth's night sky in 3.75 billion years is seen in this illustration released by NASA in May 2012. WASHINGTON (Reuters) — The Milky Way and the neighboring Andromeda galaxy are currently hurtling through space toward each other at a speed of about 400,000 kph, setting up a possible future galactic collision that would wreck both of them. But how likely is this cosmic crash? While previous research forecast it to occur roughly 4 billion-4.5 billion years from now, a new study that uses recent observational data and adds fresh variables indicates that a collision is far from certain. It puts the likelihood of a collision in the next 5 billion years at less than 2% and one in the next 10 billion years at about 50%. Galactic mergers are not like a demolition derby, with stars and planets crashing into each other, but rather a complicated blending on an immense scale. 'The future collision — if it happens — would be the end of both the Milky Way and Andromeda,' said University of Helsinki astrophysicist Till Sawala, lead author of the study published on June 2 in the journal Nature Astronomy, with the structure of both being destroyed and a new galaxy with an elliptical shape arising from the merger. 'If a merger happens, it is more likely to occur 7 billion-8 billion years in the future. But we find that based on the current data, we cannot predict the time of a merger, if it happens at all,' Sawala said. The two galaxies currently are around 2.5 million light-years from each other. The sun is one of the Milky Way's many billions of stars. The total mass of our spiral-shaped galaxy — including its stars and interstellar gas as well as its dark matter, which is invisible material whose presence is revealed by its gravitational effects — is estimated at approximately one trillion times the mass of the sun. The Andromeda galaxy has a shape and total mass similar to the Milky Way's. The researchers simulated the Milky Way's movement over the next 10 billion years using updated data from the Gaia and Hubble space telescopes and various ground-based telescopes as well as revised galactic mass estimates. Other nearby galaxies are forecast to factor into whether a collision occurs. Previous research accounted for the gravitational influence of the Triangulum galaxy, also called Messier 33 or M33, which is about half the size of the Milky Way and Andromeda, but did consider the Large Magellanic Cloud, a smaller satellite galaxy of the Milky Way, as this study does. 'We find that if only M33 is added to the two-body system, the chance of a Milky Way-Andromeda merger actually increases, but the inclusion of the Large Magellanic Cloud has the opposite effect,' Sawala said. The researchers concluded that a merger between the Milky Way and the Large Magellanic Cloud is almost certain within the next 2 billion years, long before a potential collision with Andromeda. One noteworthy difference between the Milky Way and Andromeda is the mass of the supermassive black holes at their centers. The Milky Way's Sagittarius A*, or Sgr A*, is about 4 million times the mass of the sun. Its Andromeda counterpart is about 100 million the sun's mass. 'Collisions between stars are very unlikely, but the two supermassive black holes would sink to the center of the newly formed galaxy, where they would eventually merge,' Sawala said. Galactic mergers have occurred since the universe's early stages and are particularly common in areas of the universe where galaxies are clustered together. 'In the early universe, galaxy mergers were much more frequent, so the first mergers would have occurred very shortly after the first galaxies had formed,' Sawala said. 'Minor mergers — with much smaller galaxies — happen more frequently. Indeed, the Milky Way is currently merging with several dwarf galaxies,' Sawala said.
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First Post
04-06-2025
- General
- First Post
Our galaxy can breathe easy: Milky Way may not collide with Andromeda, says new research
The study still indicates a small chance, around 2 per cent, of a direct collision between Milky Way and Andromeda in 4 to 5 billion years. However, humanity will have long ceased to exist by then read more Recent research based on data from the Hubble and ESA's Gaia space telescopes has cast doubts over the long-standing prediction about the collision and merger of the Milky Way with the Andromeda galaxy. The findings suggest that this event is far less certain than previously believed by astronomers and experts. Only 50% chance of collision in next 10 bn years By carefully considering uncertainties in current measurements and including the gravitational effects of nearby galaxies (the Large Magellanic Cloud, which is a massive satellite galaxy currently merging with the Milky Way, and M33, or the Triangulum Galaxy, which orbits Andromeda), researchers discovered that in approximately half of their Monte-Carlo simulations, the Milky Way and Andromeda do not merge within the next 10 billion years. This means there is only about a 50 per cent chance of the two galaxies merging in the next 10 billion years. The galaxy images provided illustrate three potential scenarios for encounters between the Milky Way and Andromeda. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD In the top left panel, a wide-field Digitised Sky Survey (DSS) image of galaxies M81 and M82 exemplifies the Milky Way and Andromeda passing each other at large distances. The top right panel shows NGC 6786, a pair of interacting galaxies exhibiting signs of tidal disturbances after a close encounter. The bottom panel displays NGC 520, depicting two galaxies actively merging in a cosmic collision. Animations predicting the collision of these two galaxies in about 4 billion years, followed by their merger 2 billion years later, do not account for uncertainties in various measured parameters. Only 2% chance of direct collision in 5 bn years The study still indicates a small chance, around 2 per cent, of a direct collision between the galaxies in 4 to 5 billion years. However, humanity will have long ceased to exist by then, as the Sun will have rendered Earth uninhabitable in roughly 1 billion years. This differs from previous analysis, which claimed the two galaxies would collide and create cosmic fireworks because they are moving towards each other at a pace of 2,24,000 miles per hour.
Economic Times
04-06-2025
- General
- Economic Times
'Not so fast': NASA shares a big update on 'end of the world' doomsday prediction
NASA, in collaboration with the European Space Agency, has updated its long-standing prediction about a future collision between the Milky Way and the Andromeda galaxy. A new study using data from the Hubble and Gaia space telescopes suggests that the once-assumed head-on crash is no longer a certainty. Researchers ran 100,000 simulations and found there's only a 50% chance the two galaxies will collide within the next 10 billion years. Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads Revisiting the Future of the Milky Way How Likely Is a Collision? Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads Other Galaxies Add to the Complexity Still a Small Chance of a Sooner Collision A Universe of Unknowns For over a century, scientists believed that a cosmic catastrophe awaited our galaxy. In 1912, astronomers noticed that the Andromeda galaxy appeared to be on a collision course with the Milky Way. In 2012, NASA's Hubble Space Telescope confirmed that Andromeda's sideways movement was minimal, reinforcing the idea of a direct hit in about 4 to 5 billion years. But now, a new study says that might not be the case after all.A new paper published in Nature Astronomy presents a very different outlook. Using data from both NASA's Hubble Space Telescope and the European Space Agency's Gaia observatory, astronomers have re-examined the previous prediction. The updated study, led by University of Helsinki astronomer Till Sawala, suggests the future isn't as certain as once believed.'We have the most comprehensive study of this problem today that actually folds in all the observational uncertainties,' said research team, which includes scientists from Durham University, the University of Toulouse, and the University of Western Australia, ran computer simulations to understand the long-term behavior of the Milky Way and Andromeda. Their conclusion? There's about a 50% chance of a collision occurring within the next 10 billion reach this finding, astronomers considered 22 variables and ran 100,000 simulations stretching far into the future. This method, known as Monte Carlo simulation, helps model outcomes with complex variables.'Because there are so many variables that each have their errors, that accumulates to rather large uncertainty about the outcome, leading to the conclusion that the chance of a direct collision is only 50% within the next 10 billion years,' said added that while the Milky Way and Andromeda might appear destined to merge, 'they could still go past each other.'The study also took into account the influence of other nearby galaxies — Andromeda's massive satellite M33, and the Milky Way's Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC). Both galaxies add gravitational forces that impact the trajectory and motion of the Milky Way and Andromeda.'The extra mass of Andromeda's satellite galaxy M33 pulls the Milky Way a little bit more towards it. However, we also show that the LMC pulls the Milky Way off the orbital plane and away from Andromeda. It doesn't mean that the LMC will save us from that merger, but it makes it a bit less likely,' Sawala with the revised outlook, a head-on collision remains possible, albeit unlikely. The new data still allows for a 2% chance that the two galaxies might collide in just 4 to 5 billion years — a scenario similar to earlier Earth's habitability will be long gone by then, as scientists estimate the Sun will make the planet too hot for life within 1 billion years, and will itself burn out in about 5 billion study reflects how astronomical predictions continue to evolve as better data becomes available. 'Even using the latest and most precise observational data available, the future of the Local Group of several dozen galaxies is uncertain,' said Sawala. 'Intriguingly, we find an almost equal probability for the widely publicized merger scenario, or, conversely, an alternative one where the Milky Way and Andromeda survive unscathed.'NASA and ESA's Hubble Space Telescope, which has been operational for over 30 years, remains a cornerstone of space exploration . The ongoing collaboration between international teams continues to reshape what we know — and what we think we know — about the future of our galaxy.
Time of India
04-06-2025
- General
- Time of India
'Not so fast': NASA shares a big update on 'end of the world' doomsday prediction
NASA, in collaboration with the European Space Agency, has updated its long-standing prediction about a future collision between the Milky Way and the Andromeda galaxy. A new study using data from the Hubble and Gaia space telescopes suggests that the once-assumed head-on crash is no longer a certainty. Researchers ran 100,000 simulations and found there's only a 50% chance the two galaxies will collide within the next 10 billion years. Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads Revisiting the Future of the Milky Way How Likely Is a Collision? Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads Other Galaxies Add to the Complexity Still a Small Chance of a Sooner Collision A Universe of Unknowns For over a century, scientists believed that a cosmic catastrophe awaited our galaxy. In 1912, astronomers noticed that the Andromeda galaxy appeared to be on a collision course with the Milky Way. In 2012, NASA's Hubble Space Telescope confirmed that Andromeda's sideways movement was minimal, reinforcing the idea of a direct hit in about 4 to 5 billion years. But now, a new study says that might not be the case after all.A new paper published in Nature Astronomy presents a very different outlook. Using data from both NASA's Hubble Space Telescope and the European Space Agency's Gaia observatory, astronomers have re-examined the previous prediction. The updated study, led by University of Helsinki astronomer Till Sawala, suggests the future isn't as certain as once believed.'We have the most comprehensive study of this problem today that actually folds in all the observational uncertainties,' said research team, which includes scientists from Durham University, the University of Toulouse, and the University of Western Australia, ran computer simulations to understand the long-term behavior of the Milky Way and Andromeda. Their conclusion? There's about a 50% chance of a collision occurring within the next 10 billion reach this finding, astronomers considered 22 variables and ran 100,000 simulations stretching far into the future. This method, known as Monte Carlo simulation, helps model outcomes with complex variables.'Because there are so many variables that each have their errors, that accumulates to rather large uncertainty about the outcome, leading to the conclusion that the chance of a direct collision is only 50% within the next 10 billion years,' said added that while the Milky Way and Andromeda might appear destined to merge, 'they could still go past each other.'The study also took into account the influence of other nearby galaxies — Andromeda's massive satellite M33, and the Milky Way's Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC). Both galaxies add gravitational forces that impact the trajectory and motion of the Milky Way and Andromeda.'The extra mass of Andromeda's satellite galaxy M33 pulls the Milky Way a little bit more towards it. However, we also show that the LMC pulls the Milky Way off the orbital plane and away from Andromeda. It doesn't mean that the LMC will save us from that merger, but it makes it a bit less likely,' Sawala with the revised outlook, a head-on collision remains possible, albeit unlikely. The new data still allows for a 2% chance that the two galaxies might collide in just 4 to 5 billion years — a scenario similar to earlier Earth's habitability will be long gone by then, as scientists estimate the Sun will make the planet too hot for life within 1 billion years, and will itself burn out in about 5 billion study reflects how astronomical predictions continue to evolve as better data becomes available. 'Even using the latest and most precise observational data available, the future of the Local Group of several dozen galaxies is uncertain,' said Sawala. 'Intriguingly, we find an almost equal probability for the widely publicized merger scenario, or, conversely, an alternative one where the Milky Way and Andromeda survive unscathed.'NASA and ESA's Hubble Space Telescope, which has been operational for over 30 years, remains a cornerstone of space exploration . The ongoing collaboration between international teams continues to reshape what we know — and what we think we know — about the future of our galaxy.
NDTV
03-06-2025
- Science
- NDTV
Milky Way To Collide With Its Largest Neighbour Andromeda? What New Study Said
Quick Read Summary is AI generated, newsroom reviewed. A new study suggests the Milky Way may not collide with Andromeda as previously thought. The chance of a head-on collision in 4.5 billion years is only 2%, with a 50% chance within 10 billion years. Astronomers have long believed that the Milky Way galaxy may collide head-on with its largest neighbour, the Andromeda galaxy, in about 4.5 billion years. But a new study shows the cosmic clash, named Milkomeda, might not happen the way it was thought. The new data, obtained using the Hubble and Gaia space telescopes, indicates the likelihood of the Milky Way and Andromeda colliding within the next 4 to 5 billion years is only 2 per cent, CNN reported. It also says there is a roughly 50 per cent chance they will collide at some point in the next 10 billion years. Earlier, scientists believed the collision may destroy both galaxies, merging them into an elongated one. The reason was that the two galaxies were moving toward each other at 2,24,000 miles per hour. They expected it to be similar to other galaxy collisions where a merger would create cosmic fireworks. Carlos Frenk, a Professor at Durham University in England and study co-author, said, "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". Dr Till Sawala, astronomer at the University of Helsinki in Finland and the lead author of the study, said the merger may create a strong starburst where many new stars would form. After that, many young stars will explode, and the supermassive black hole at the centre will become very active, sending out a lot of radiation, he said. A few billion years after the merger, the two original galaxies will no longer look like they used to; instead, they will turn into one spiral-shaped galaxy called an elliptical galaxy, said Mr Sawala. Our corner of the universe, called the Local Group, consists of 100 other smaller galaxies, including some large ones like the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) and the Triangulum Galaxy. M33 is an Andromeda satellite, whereas the LMC orbits the Milky Way. Mr Frenk cautions that the Milky Way is more likely to collide with the LMC in the next 2 billion years, which might drastically alter our galaxy. Mr Sawala said, "The extra mass of Andromeda's satellite galaxy M33 pulls the Milky Way a little bit more towards it." According to Geraint Lewis, an astrophysics professor at the Institute for Astronomy at the University of Sydney, scientists are unsure whether the Milky Way and Andromeda will collide, but even if they do, the gravitational pull that each will exert on the other is likely to leave the two massive galaxies in an awful situation.
