The Milky Way and Andromeda Galaxy Collision Prediction: What to Expect

2. It has been predicted since the 19th century

Edwin Powell Hubble was a famous astronomer who lived between 1889 and 1953. Through his research, he discovered that the number of galaxies in the universe is countless.

In 1929, Edwin Hubble discovered that almost all galaxies were moving away from the Milky Way, except for Andromeda. At that time, Andromeda was actually moving at a speed of 110 km/h towards the Milky Way.

At this speed, astronomers predict that the two will collide in the next 4 to 5 billion years. However, these predictions were based on the knowledge and technology available at the time.

Scientists have updated Hubble’s estimates. Recent research suggests that the Milky Way and Andromeda will likely collide around 4 billion years from now.

3. The accident would disrupt the Milky Way

It appears that the Milky Way has indeed collided with several smaller galaxies. This does not have a big impact on the galaxy because the effect is not important enough.

However, considering the large size of the Andromeda galaxy, it is clear that this case of an accident will give a different story. Scientists predict that when these two giant galaxies finally meet, gravitational forces will cause the two galaxies to collapse.

There will no longer be a spiral shape as known before. Both are likely to become giant galaxies with irregular shapes over millions of years.

The Milky Way and Andromeda collide many times and disrupt each other’s star alignments. Then after 1 billion years or more, the two began to merge and form a giant elliptical galaxy.

Astronomers call this large galaxy the name Milkdromeda, which is a combination of the names Milky Way or Milky Way and Andromeda.