Milky Way may not be destroyed in galactic smash-up after all

New computer simulations suggest that the Milky Way may not collide with the Andromeda galaxy after all, challenging earlier predictions of an inevitable galactic crash. Scientists now estimate a 50% chance of such a collision in the next 10 billion years—essentially a coin flip. Even if a collision does occur, it’s unlikely to happen within the next 5 billion years, by which time the Sun will have already made Earth uninhabitable.

Earlier studies had predicted a merger around 4.5 billion years from now, possibly dooming the Sun and Earth to either a black hole or intergalactic exile. But new data and over 100,000 simulations show that the two galaxies might instead pass near each other without colliding—possibly orbiting one another for billions of years.

The study, published in Nature Astronomy, highlights that the future of our galaxy remains uncertain and more precise data, especially from the Gaia and Hubble telescopes, could provide clearer answers in the coming decade. While the outcome won’t affect humanity, scientists say it’s still natural to feel attached to the fate of our galaxy.

Credit : CGTN