Hey space fans! 🚀 Get ready for some stellar news: new computer simulations suggest our Milky Way might just avoid a catastrophic collision with the giant galaxy Andromeda. Instead of a dramatic smash-up, there's a coin flip chance for a gentler near-miss!
Scientists ran over 100,000 simulations and found it's roughly 50/50 – think of it like flipping a coin! Lead researcher Till Sawala from the University of Helsinki explains that while these galaxies are speeding toward each other, a full-blown merger in the next five billion years is extremely unlikely.
Even if dark matter eventually pulls them into a cataclysmic embrace, that dramatic event would unfold in around eight to ten billion years – long after our Sun has faded and Earth has lost its spark. In the grand cosmic dance, the fate of our galaxy remains wide open.
So, whether it’s a dramatic collision or a mellow orbiting duet, the universe still has plenty of surprises in store! 🌌✨
Reference(s):
Milky Way may not be destroyed in galactic smash-up after all
cgtn.com
