Astronomers Detected Signs of Our Milky Way Colliding With Another Galaxy (sciencealert.com) 47
fahrbot-bot shares a report from ScienceAlert: Antlia 2, the "ghost of a galaxy" orbiting the Milky Way, is a dark horse in more ways than one. Not only is it so faint it was only just discovered last year, it may now be responsible for curious ripples in the hydrogen gas that makes up the Milky Way's outer disc. According to new research, Antlia 2's current position is consistent with a collision with the Milky Way hundreds of millions of years ago that could have produced the perturbations we see today. The paper has been submitted for publication and is undergoing peer review. Antlia 2 was a bit of a surprise when it showed up in the second Gaia mission data release last year. It's really close to the Milky Way -- one of our satellite galaxies -- and absolutely enormous, about the size of the Large Magellanic Cloud. Further reading: CNET
I hope that... (Score:5, Funny)
Re: (Score:1)
With a five star safety rating
Re: I hope that... (Score:1)
It coincides with global warming. Stupid hominids are doomed.
Re:I hope that... (Score:5, Interesting)
I hope that... ...our insurance against intergalactic collisions hasn't expired.
Fun fact: [wikipedia.org] The Andromeda galaxy will collide with the Milky Way in about 4.5 billion years, well within the lifetime of the Sun. The Earth might still be habitable at that point.
The collision will be quite destructive. The supermassive black holes from each galaxy are expected to combine, releasing so much energy as gravity waves it's hard to even guess the result (it's more energy than all the visible light in the galaxy, by several orders of magnitude IIRC). Just from normal orbital effects our solar system will likely be tossed outside the combined galaxy, probably to orbit in the "halo" but possibly ejected entirely.
Re: (Score:2)
I hope that... ...our insurance against intergalactic collisions hasn't expired.
Fun fact: [wikipedia.org] ...
bullshit snipped
If you want facts (or, at least, what current scientific theories believe will happen), watch this video [youtube.com]. It's presented by an astronomer instead some rando on /.
Re: (Score:2)
He get stuff wrong in half the episodes, as is caught by the comments section. PBS Space Time is great for the dramatic presentation, and being more in-depth than most YouTube channels, but don't take is a gospel.
Of course, the same is true of Wikipedia, so there's that, but at like Wikipedia cites sources one can read.
The YT video talks about the chance of two stars colliding, which is the least of our worries There will be far more interesting things happening.
.
Re: (Score:1)
"Catholibans"? What, Lebanese Catholics?
Re: (Score:1)
"They are long drawn out affairs lasting many parsecs."
Except that parsec is a distance, not a time.
Re: (Score:1)
Hey, I made the Kessel Run in less than twelve parsecs!
Re: (Score:2)
Distance matters (Score:2)
At fixed speed then distance is all that matters. Capping at speed of light or maximum technology speed.
If the route is the same then only speed matters; if the route variations are extremely tiny then speed variations matter most. Obviously, speed is a function of distance and time...
The Kessel Run was possibly writer's ignorance; however, finding a clever route can be measured in distance and even makes sense if speed variations are negligible. The vast emptiness of outer space is the LAST place a route
"Two thousand million or so years ago ..." (Score:4, Funny)
Eddorians when?
I am not raging! (Score:4, Funny)
Wtf, I really don't understand what this has to do with privacy laws in Europe or Apple's tax rates.
It's OK (Score:2)
That'll buff right out.
Shape and Angle of Milky way in the sky (Score:3)
I always wondered was why it looks like we're on an angle to the Milky Way in the sky? If the Milky Way collided with another galaxy I wonder if that could mean our entire solar system was deposited here?
We could all be intergalactic aliens on a solar system sized space ship!
Why bother? (Score:1)
Re: (Score:3)
Ah, let's hear it for the Enlightenment!! What? Science? We no need no stinkin' science. Everything we currently know is enough.
Hint, the practice of science drives innovation, not merely the end results. Damn, 500 years and you still haven't caught up with Enlightenment.
Re: (Score:2)
Somebody needs to make up their mind (Score:2)
Is all matter expanding and moving away from all other matter or is it bouncing around like a ball in a pinball machine?
Re: (Score:3)
The universe is larger than you imagine. BOTH are happening.