alt Hacker NewsNew study casts doubt on the likelihood of Milky Way collision with Andromeda
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When simulating an actual merger with the two galaxies; any estimates on the number of stars that might collide?
400+ billion stars per galaxy might make each one seem 'dense' but the distance between stars is enormous.
I have heard that it might be possible for one galaxy to pass through another without any stars colliding with each other. I don't have any idea if that is actually true.
The article:
>Such a collision would be devastating for both galaxies which would be destroyed, leaving behind a spheroidal pile of stars known as an elliptical galaxy.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andromeda%E2%80%93Milky_Way_...:
>The stars involved are sufficiently spaced that it is improbable that any of them will individually collide,[6] though some stars will be ejected.
Originally I thought thought those statements were contradictory, but I guess the first statement says the galaxies will be destroyed, and says nothing of the stars.
I could have told you in advance it would have been a Finn! Something in Helsinki has been going on for a while in astronomy. They're so much more willing to challenge the norm, and unusually capable with Bayesian statistics and big computation. It's really remarkable.
Related:
Milky Way may escape fated collision with Andromeda galaxy (9 points, 10 months ago) https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=41240641
Milky Way and Andromeda galaxies are already merging (2020) (138 points, 2022, 74 comments) https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=30494523
Our Dazzling Night Sky When the Milky Way Collides with Andromeda in 4B Years (182 points, 2019, 120 comments) https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21327269
Damn, I was really looking forward to seeing Andromeda up close. Oh well.
It only cast doubts in the time frame. Everything in our local region will merge eventually.
> Such a collision would be devastating for both galaxies which would be destroyed, leaving behind a spheroidal pile of stars known as an elliptical galaxy.
Where the heck did this sentence come from, especially on a university website?! Is it AI slop or did a human actually write this?
12yos before this article: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y_PrZ-J7D3k
>If the Milky Way and Andromeda are to collide and merge, the researchers found that it would most likely happen in 7 to 8 billion years’ time, significantly later than previously predicted.
Aah damn well let me check my calendar for what I'll being doing in 7 billion years instead of 4...