Milky Way will collide with Andromeda. See when it will happen

A catastrophic collision between our galaxy, the Milky Way and Andromeda is inevitable, but over four billion years, according to projections announced Thursday by the U.S. space agency, NASA, according to AFP."Our model corresponds statistically to a frontal collision between Andromeda and the Milky Way galaxy," said Roeland van der Marel, an astrophysicist at the Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI) in Baltimore, during a press conference. The conclusion results from measuring speed and direction trajectory Andromeda galaxy, complicated surgery, performed with the Hubble Space Telescope.Andromeda, also known as M31, is currently at 2.5 million light years (one light-year is equivalent to 9.460 billion kilometers), but is moving inevitably towards the Milky Way. The attraction is due to gravitational forces exerted by the two galaxies and invisible dark matter that surround them."After a century of speculation in the scientific world about the fate of Andromeda and the Milky Way, we finally have a clear idea about the development of these cosmic events next billion years," said Tony Sohn Sangmo from STScI.Although our galaxy Andromeda is approaching 2,000 times faster, will be four billion years before the collision with the Milky Way. In addition, computer simulations developed with data from the Hubble shows that it will take another two billion years, after meeting the two galaxies, to complete their merger. The result will be a single galaxy, the elliptical, more common in the surrounding universe, astronomers explained. Milky Way, a galaxy payment will be completely transformed, they predict.Sun will find a new region of the galaxy, but the Earth and our solar system are in danger of being destroyed, scientists highlights. Even if the two galaxies merge, the stars they contain are very distant from each other and may not collide during the meeting, according to astronomers.The stars will go to find different orbit, in relation to the new center of the galaxy. Simulations show that our solar system will probably be pushed himself far beyond the galaxy core, relative to the current situation.To further complicate this event Triangle small galaxy (M33), neighboring Andromeda, will join the post merger, collide with its larger sisters. But there is a lower chance for M33 to hit first the Milky Way, say U.S. researchers.