Photo by: NASA/JPL-Caltech/UCLA

NASA/JPL-Caltech/UCLA

Romeo and Juliet: The Story of Galaxy Collisions

Our Milky Way galaxy is on a collision course. With destiny. With destruction. With fate. With our nearest neighbor, Andromeda.

You can stream HOW THE UNIVERSE WORKS on discovery+.

Over the course of the next 5 billion years, the specter of Andromeda will loom larger and larger on our sky. Right now, it’s nothing but a fuzzy patch of light no bigger than an outstretched fist. But as our galaxies race together at 70 miles per second, that galaxies will grow to engulf our entire night.

And then the fires begin.

There won’t be a single, loud boom or crash. Merging galaxies isn’t anything like crashing cars. Galaxies are mostly empty space – the individual stars make up less than 1% of the volume of any galaxy, with a thin soup of interstellar particles filling out the rest. So its more like two giant swarms of bees encountering each other.

Before the merger proper, our two galaxies will begin to distort, raising tides on each other the same way that the Moon raises tides on the Earth. Giant arms of stars and gas will fling themselves outwards, stretching tens of thousands of lightyears away from each galaxy.

This Picture of the Week, taken by the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope, shows the galaxy NGC 4237. Located about 60 million light-years from Earth in the constellation of Coma Berenices (Berenice's Hair), NGC 4237 is classified as a flocculent spiral galaxy. This means that its spiral arms are not clearly distinguishable from each other, as in grand design spiral galaxies, but are instead patchy and discontinuous. This gives the galaxy a fluffy appearance, somewhat resembling cotton wool. Astronomers studying NGC 4237 were actually more interested in its galactic bulge — its bright central region. By learning more about these bulges, we can explore how spiral galaxies have evolved, and study the growth of the supermassive black holes that lurk at the centres of most spirals. There are indications that the mass of the black hole at the centre of a galaxy is related to the mass of its bulge. However, this connection is still uncertain, and why these two components should be so strongly correlated is still a mystery — one that astronomers hope to solve by studying galaxies in the nearby Universe, such as NGC 4237.

Cotton Wool Galaxy

Located about 60 million light-years from Earth in the constellation of Coma Berenices (Berenice's Hair), NGC 4237 is classified as a flocculent spiral galaxy. This means that its spiral arms are not clearly distinguishable from each other, as in grand design spiral galaxies, but are instead patchy and discontinuous. This gives the galaxy a fluffy appearance, somewhat resembling cotton wool.

Photo by: ESA/Hubble & NASA, P. Erwin et al.

ESA/Hubble & NASA, P. Erwin et al.

The first merger will take about a hundred million years to complete. Our two galaxies will pass through each other, trading gas and dust in the process before swinging away from each other. But like two lovers caught in a fatal embrace, they will return to each others (spiral) arms, again and again.

After about half a billion years, the job will be done.

During the merger itself, our two galaxies will shine like they never have before. Clouds of gas will collide and begin to compress. Shock waves will ripple through the thin interstellar medium. Supernovae will shake and stir the combined galaxies. At its peak, stars will form at a rate ten times higher than it is today.

And then comes the slow, quiet death.

A galaxy about 23 million light years away is the site of impressive, ongoing fireworks. Rather than paper, powder and fire, this galactic light show involves a giant black hole, shock waves and vast reservoirs of gas. This galactic fireworks display is taking place in NGC 4258, also known as M106, a spiral galaxy like our own Milky Way.

Photo by: NASA/CXC/Caltech/P.Ogle/JPL

NASA/CXC/Caltech/P.Ogle/JPL

A galaxy about 23 million light years away is the site of impressive, ongoing fireworks. Rather than paper, powder and fire, this galactic light show involves a giant black hole, shock waves and vast reservoirs of gas. This galactic fireworks display is taking place in NGC 4258, also known as M106, a spiral galaxy like our own Milky Way.

All that intense star formation comes at a cost. To form stars to need to compress pockets of gas into small enough volumes. Usually galaxies are very efficient, slowly converting reserves of gas into new stars. But the violence of the collision will ramp this process up, burning through those precious reserves in a relative blink of an eye.

Without the merger, our two galaxies could keep forming stars for trillions of years to come. But after their final embrace, there won’t be any new material left to keep the fires lit.

The most massive stars will die first in a fury of supernova bursts. Then the medium, sun-like stars will turn themselves inside out, forming red giants, planetary nebulae, and white dwarfs. All that will remain will be the small, dim, long-lived dwarf stars, left to rule over the ruined husk of the newly-merged galaxy.

It will be beautiful…while it lasts.

Dive Deeper into the Cosmos

Journey Through the Cosmos in an All-New Season of How the Universe Works

The new season premieres March 24 on Science Channel and streams on discovery+.

Paul M. Sutter is an astrophysicist at Stony Brook University and the Flatiron Institute, host of Ask a Spaceman and Space Radio, and author of How to Die in Space.

Next Up

Quiz: Test Your Space Exploration Knowledge

Ahead of the historic May 27th NASA and SpaceX crewed space launch, test your space exploration knowledge!

NFL SUPER STADIUMS Follows the Epic Journey of Building SoFi Stadium

In partnership with the NFL, Discovery and Science Channel go behind the scenes and follow the remarkable journey of constructing SoFi Stadium in an all-new, two-hour special, NFL SUPER STADIUMS premiering Wednesday, September 9 at 8P on Science Channel and Saturday, September 12 at 11A on Discovery.

STREET OUTLAWS Returns and the 405 is Back

OKC has been dominating the No Prep Track, but the time has come for the 405 to return to their roots — the streets. STREET OUTLAWS returns on Monday, January 11 at 8p on Discovery followed by Mega Cash Days at 9p on Discovery and streaming on discovery+.

Welcome to the Front Lines of CAL FIRE

The 2020 wildfire season in California has been the worst in state history. More than 4.1 million acres have burned, 9,400 homes and structures have been destroyed, and 33 lives have been lost. Discovery is taking viewers to front lines with CAL FIRE — premiering Sunday, Jan. 3 at 10p ET.

America’s Fastest Racers Return to the Track on STREET OUTLAWS: NO PREP KINGS

The wait is finally over! America’s fastest track racers are back, and the stakes are higher than ever with new cars, new drivers, 15 events, and nearly $900,000 up for grabs. STREET OUTLAWS: NO PREP KINGS returns for an all-new season on October 11 at 8p on Discovery.

Celebrity Car Dealers Showcase the American Dream on MILLION DOLLAR WHEELS

The cutthroat and elite world of celebrity luxury and supercar dealers is on full display is the new discovery+ series, MILLION DOLLAR WHEELS executive produced by academy award®-winner, Jamie Foxx. Watch the series premiere on February 28, 2022 on discovery+.

Get Ready for Puppy Bowl XIX

Puppy Bowl XIX premieres Sunday, February 12 at 2P ET/11A PT with more adoptable puppies from shelters and rescues across the nation.

NASA Astronauts Take on Two Spacewalks at the International Space Station

Updated July 1, 2020 Six Days. Two spacewalks. Both Successful.

NASA HQ to be Named in Honor of Mary W. Jackson

NASA announced Wednesday, June 24th that NASA's Washington, D.C. headquarters will now be named for Mary W. Jackson, the first black, female engineer at NASA.

The Last Supermoon of the Year and How to See It

The Super Flower Moon of May is this year's last supermoon, when the Moon appears slightly larger and brighter in the sky because it is somewhat closer to Earth. Here's everything you need to know and how to watch it from home.

Related To: