Image Credit Z. Levay and R. van der Marel (STScI); and A. Mellinger/ESA/NASA - A view of how the sky may appear to stargazers 3.75 billion years from now as an impending collision with the Andromeda galaxy gravitationally distorts the familiar bright band of the Milky Way.
Image Credit Z. Levay and R. van der Marel (STScI); and A. Mellinger/ESA/NASA – A view of how the sky may appear to stargazers 3.75 billion years from now as an impending collision with the Andromeda galaxy gravitationally distorts the familiar bright band of the Milky Way.

Milky Way may escape fated collision with Andromeda galaxy

https://www.science.org/content/article/milky-way-may-escape-fated-collision-andromeda-galaxy

By Daniel Clery

Astronomers have long believed that the Milky Way and Andromeda galaxies were on a collision course, set to merge in a few billion years. However, new simulations suggest there’s a 50% chance they might narrowly miss each other, delaying any possible collision for at least the next 8 to 10 billion years. This study, using the latest data on the motions and masses of galaxies, challenges the certainty of a Milky Way-Andromeda merger. Even though this near-miss is a possibility, the galaxies in our Local Group are still destined to merge into a single giant elliptical galaxy eventually, due to the inexorable pull of gravity.

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