Until recently, astronomers assumed that the Andromeda galaxy would collide with ours in 8 billion years. But now they think the Milky Way could be in danger much sooner. Why are the scientists so scared, and do they have a reason for this?
Large magellanic cloud
A mysterious bright object in the sky, called the Large Magellanic Cloud, was recorded back in 1519. Recently, however, astronomers have discovered strange activity inside it. They believe it could be a newly formed black hole or a neutron star - a new class of objects that researchers have recently discovered. According to the latest data published in the journal of the Royal Astronomical Society, the Large Magellanic Cloud should collide with the Milky Way in 2 billion years. In their opinion, the processes that have been taking place in the Universe for a long time will change the speed of space compression.
Our galaxy revolves around the so-called smaller satellite galaxies. This “dance” can last for several billion years. But sometimes the situation changes dramatically, and "satellite" galaxies may begin to approach other large clusters of stars.
Collision of galaxies
Promotional video:
The Large Magellanic Cloud appeared relatively recently in the field of vision of astronomers. Scientists estimate that it approached the Milky Way about 1.5 billion years ago. It is now the brightest of our satellite galaxies, located 163,000 light-years away. Previously, astronomers assumed that the Magellanic Cloud would not have any effect on our galaxy and would not in any way affect its gravity. But recent measurements show that this seemingly small satellite galaxy actually has a much larger mass than scientists assumed. This means that the Large Magellanic Cloud has a black hole that has great gravity. This will ultimately cause the Milky Way to collide with it. “The approach of the Large Magellanic Cloud will lead to a collision on an unprecedented scale. This will awaken the black hole that lives in the satellite galaxy and turn the Milky Way into an active nucleus or quasar,”says Marius Kautun, a researcher at the University of Durham.
What does this mean for the Earth?
According to Marius Kautun, the collision will result in the emission of energy that will go beyond the black hole. While this likely will not affect our solar system, there is a small chance that we will not be able to remain unharmed after the collision of two galaxies. This could push our system out of the Milky Way into empty interstellar space.
Although 2 billion years seems incredibly long, it is much less than the age of the universe, which is 13.8 billion years. The Milky Way galaxy itself is about 13.5 billion years old. She must have experienced galactic collisions before. What do scientists say about this?
Space fireworks
“We believe that the Milky Way has collided with other satellite galaxies only a few times so far. At the same time, they had a very small mass,”notes Alice Dizon, Research Fellow at the Royal Society University. She is confident that the collision of galaxies is a completely natural process. For example, our closest neighbor, the Andromeda galaxy, devoured systems whose weight was 30 times greater than those "eaten" by the Milky Way. Consequently, a collision with the Large Magellanic Cloud is inevitable.
If this universal catastrophe does not "push" the solar system out of the galaxy, our future descendants will be able to watch the collision from the Earth. Surely it will be a magnificent sight: a kind of cosmic "fireworks", in which powerful energy radiation will splash into space.
What do you think about this?
Author: Natalia Tikhomirova