What Really Happens When Galaxies Collide

The Milky Way is on a crash course with the Andromeda galaxy, but what would a galactic collision actually look like?

Read More:

Astronomers Predict Titanic Collision: Milky Way vs. Andromeda
“The Milky Way is destined to get a major makeover during the encounter, which is predicted to happen four billion years from now. It is likely the sun will be flung into a new region of our galaxy, but our Earth and solar system are in no danger of being destroyed.”

As Much as Half of the Milky Way Likely Came From Distant Galaxies
“We’re made of star stuff, as Carl Sagan famously put it in his TV series Cosmos. All of the elements that joined together to form our planet and everything on it were set in motion within the hearts of ancient stars. But not only are we star stuff, it appears that we’re actually made of alien star stuff.”

Jellyfish Galaxies Are Feeding Supermassive Black Holes
“There are all sorts of strange “creatures” in outer space. Astronomers study objects called blitzars and magnetars, while citizen scientists with the Galaxy Zoo project have found objects that they’ve affectionately dubbed “green peas” and “voorwerps.” Some of these objects are well understood while others are more mysterious.”

____________________

Seeker inspires us to see the world through the lens of science and evokes a sense of curiosity, optimism and adventure.

Visit the Seeker website

Special thanks to Amy Shira Teitel for hosting and writing this episode of Seeker!

[Gimbergp]

They give birth to cute baby galaxies.

[IamMrkay]

What happens when galaxies collide ?...Answer: Star Wars

[NewMessage]

So they slowly dance around each other... things get excited, there's some exchanges of matter.. and it all ends in explosive formation of new galactic inhabitants.

Always one of those couples at the party, eh?

[harrypetes]

selfish, how about your descendant's living in 4 Billion years!

[Patrick-udvu]

Be cool to see a video depicting what would happen on Earth as the two galaxies begin to collide!

[belminm.]

I was wondering about this for such a long time

[sebastianelytron]

Amy is without a doubt the best Seeker host, a joy to watch.

[johnbennett]

The stars don't collide, but what happens to the orbits of all the stuff going around the stars? The Ort cloud reaches a large fraction of the distance to the nearby stars. Assuming that is typical, there is going to be a LOT of gravitational interaction between solar systems as they go past each other. The late heavy bombardment may seem like a light shower compared to what happens when we colloide with Andromeda.

[superdave]

I just explained this to my elderly father, as he thought it was a terribly violent event with stars all over each galaxy colliding and exploding. Then I found this video. I was amazed that I actually got it right before I watched it here. It sounded as if the video was quoting me.

[CELTICSAVAGE]

Amy is a pretty darn good host.. she's a good speaker, she's entertaining, she's interesting and last but not least, stunning. :)

[bobbyharper]

In a few billion years we'll be able to safely steer our galaxy away from the collision.

[SICKO-mqpc]

Very interesting I just learned something new today thank to

Imaging the sky during the collision of the milky way and the andromeda galaxy. It would be spectacular.

[ranjeethmahankali]

Did anyone else notice the unusually tense soundtrack ? Is Seeker going through a phase ?

[spidertingle]

Voice over videos are so much better than watching someone stand there and talk

[CodeLeeCarter]

Amy, you are becoming a real busy bee, these days, and we're loving it, ... Thanks again.

[Vidar_Odinson]

It's really not a problem. Space is big. Really big. You just won’t believe how vastly hugely mindbogglingly big it is. I mean you may think it’s a long way down the road to the chemist’s, but that’s just peanuts to space.

[justachick]

I love your content, just wish your videos were longer.

[tobi]

she says at 2:13 that she didn't wanna live uptil andromeda collides with milky way meaning if i wouldve given a choice to be born again i would've selected the year where milky and andro collides to see watch actually happens..

[shuu_]

Gosh the thumbnail of this video threw me off! I thought it was a monster with round and glowing pink eyes 😫