NASA's
Hubble Space Telescope recently measures the size of what's known to be the
largest galaxy in the distant universe. The data from Hubble Telescope
revealed the true size of “El Gordo” is 43% more massive than the earlier
measurement made with X-ray, which shows the accuracy of the giant telescope. And
the total mass of the cluster is estimated to be as much as 3 million billion
stars like our Sun, according to the Hubble.
"El Gordo"
What’s
interesting about “El Gordo” is its age. The “El Gordo” we are seeing right now
is when the Universe was just half of its current age of 13.8 billion years.
Astronomers
are assuming that the gigantic size of the galaxy is the result of a collision
and merger between two separate galaxy clusters.
And
reading about “El Gordo” and its possible merger case, I got curious if our
Milky Way galaxy will ever collide with other galaxy and be merged with it.
3.75
billion years later, Milky Way galaxy and Andromeda galaxy are predicted to
distort each other with tidal pull. And astronomers are predicting that there
is a chance of Milky Way galaxy merging with Andromeda happening in about 4
billion years later.
Milky Way and Andromeda 3.75 Billion Years Later
Here
is the video that contains visualized images of merger between the two largest
galaxies in the Local Group:
What
will happen to our solar system after the merger? Astronomers are predicting
that there is 12% of chance that our solar system will be ejected from the
newly formed galaxy. And they are also predicting that the solar system will be
swept out three times farther from the galactic core than it is in now, with
50% of chance.
But
we don’t need to be worried. Just before the two galaxies start get close
enough to influence each other with tidal pull, the Sun will have dried up any
liquid existing on the surface of the earth. So the scientists’ job right now,
is not to find out a way to survive the possible galactic merger, but is to
find out how to survive gradually increasing Sun.
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Bibliography:
HUBBLESITE.
Hubble Finds That Monster ‘El Gordo’ Galaxy Cluster Is Bigger Than thought. HUBBLESITE.
April 3, 2014.
Wikipedia. Andromeda-Milky Way collision. Wikipedia.
In about 4 billion years we would have to worry. Not necessary about the collision but the fact that the sun will be nearing the end of its hydrogen fusion cycle on the main sequence. This means the sun will eventually become a red giant and when that happens, it will engulf the earth. Hopefully we will be living on another planet by this time, assuming humans are still around.
ReplyDeleteGoing back to the original topic, imagine the views that we could get of the collision. That would be amazing (i like the picture you have)! Also, because the vastness of space, the chances of our sun colliding with another sun are slim to none.
Dong, i found your post very interesting. Even though there is a chance that our solar system gets thrown out of the galaxy, if nothing were to happen, the people on earth would be witnessing an amazing light show from the collision of the galaxies. I find it amazing how we can predict what the sky will look like in a few billion years from now.
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