P&Ns middle name is and

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KMFJD

Lifer
Aug 11, 2005
29,043
41,727
136
skarngpunf181.png
 

Thump553

Lifer
Jun 2, 2000
12,649
2,384
126
Well...it IS gonna run out sometime...maybe in a few billion years.


Good thing, too, because after that the Milky Way galaxy is going to collide with (and probably be subsumed by) the Andromeda Galaxy. The sun with run out of fuel in 3.5 billion years, the collision starts another billion years later. Better start planning ahead.
 
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IronWing

No Lifer
Jul 20, 2001
68,847
26,626
136
How do galaxies collide? I thought they were all moving apart at the speed of red as the universe expands? One of them is a really crappy driver.
 
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[DHT]Osiris

Lifer
Dec 15, 2015
14,004
12,068
146
How do galaxies collide? I thought they were all moving apart at the speed of red as the universe expands? One of them is a really crappy driver.
Overall, yes. Locally, galaxies merge rather often in the grand scheme of things. Our local group will remain 'local' for many (tens of? hundreds of? I forget) billion years, but (as far as we know) eventually those, too, will be too far away to see.
 
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tweaker2

Lifer
Aug 5, 2000
14,475
6,896
136
How do galaxies collide? I thought they were all moving apart at the speed of red as the universe expands? One of them is a really crappy driver.


I thought the same thing until I ran into Hubble photos provided by NASA that showed two galaxies in the act of colliding, or as another source pointed out, one galaxy absorbing another.
 

shortylickens

No Lifer
Jul 15, 2003
82,854
17,365
136
Much like solid matter, the vast majority of galaxies are empty space.
Unlike solid matter, galaxies could easily pass thru each other with very little effect.
 

zinfamous

No Lifer
Jul 12, 2006
110,511
29,091
146
Overall, yes. Locally, galaxies merge rather often in the grand scheme of things. Our local group will remain 'local' for many (tens of? hundreds of? I forget) billion years, but (as far as we know) eventually those, too, will be too far away to see.

they all move at different speeds, right? It's like Andromeda is at the back of the grid running at Lewis Hamilton's pace, and the Milky Way is in P1 running at Max Verstappen's Pace. Eventually, Andromeda is going to catch up.
 

[DHT]Osiris

Lifer
Dec 15, 2015
14,004
12,068
146
they all move at different speeds, right? It's like Andromeda is at the back of the grid running at Lewis Hamilton's pace, and the Milky Way is in P1 running at Max Verstappen's Pace. Eventually, Andromeda is going to catch up.
Speed is kinda relative too. They move at different speeds, in somewhat concert with each other due to gravity. Our local group is moving pretty synchronously compared to other galaxies. Andromeda 'catching up' is practically a snail's pace compared to our relative velocity vs other galaxies. Our merging with Andromeda will be some 4.5B years from now, if it was another galaxy it could be in a million years due to relative speeds.
 

Thump553

Lifer
Jun 2, 2000
12,649
2,384
126
Based on my extensive knowledge (based upon watching a couple of youtube videos) they are now pretty sure that the Milky Way has already gone through two such collisions already. Some theorize (very controversial) that the sun actually originated in one such dwarf galaxy (named Sagittarius Dwarf) that was absorbed by the Milky Way. It's pretty amazing when you look into it the very expensive pure science NASA is pursuing and the extent to which our knowledge in those fields has been growing by leaps and bounds in the past two or three decades.

To me the most mind blowing factoid is that every single star we can see is part of the Milky Way and that there are probably billions if not trillions of other galaxies in the universe.
 

tweaker2

Lifer
Aug 5, 2000
14,475
6,896
136
Based on my extensive knowledge (based upon watching a couple of youtube videos) they are now pretty sure that the Milky Way has already gone through two such collisions already. Some theorize (very controversial) that the sun actually originated in one such dwarf galaxy (named Sagittarius Dwarf) that was absorbed by the Milky Way. It's pretty amazing when you look into it the very expensive pure science NASA is pursuing and the extent to which our knowledge in those fields has been growing by leaps and bounds in the past two or three decades.

To me the most mind blowing factoid is that every single star we can see is part of the Milky Way and that there are probably billions if not trillions of other galaxies in the universe.


I had a part time job as an technical illustrator revising the publication Stars Over Hawaii by E. Bryan at our local planetarium administered by George Bunton during the short time I was employed there. He described our universe as you had in a similar way that made me feel totally insignificant yet in awe of how indescribably vast the expanding universe was. The kicker here is that I was a senior at a local High School and was referred by my Art instructor there as a reward for my winning a National Scholastic Award for a linoleum tile print I entered in a nationwide contest sponsored by the Smithsonian in DC. I was really jazzed by the fact that it was on display there for a month along with other winners from various states.