Скачать или смотреть The Slowest Collision in the Universe

The Andromeda galaxy is moving toward the Milky Way. Slowly, quietly, and inevitably. From our perspective, it looks distant and still, but gravity has already decided what will happen next.

Andromeda is about 2.5 million light-years away, yet it is the nearest large galaxy to ours. Right now, it’s drifting closer at hundreds of kilometers per second. In around four billion years, the Milky Way and Andromeda will begin to merge.

This won’t be a violent crash. Space is vast, and stars are incredibly far apart. Most will pass by each other without ever colliding. Instead, gravity will reshape both galaxies over millions of years, stretching their spiral arms and forming a new, larger galaxy.

If someone could watch the sky during this time, constellations would slowly disappear. New stars would fill the night. The familiar shape of our galaxy would be gone.

Humanity will likely be long gone by then. But the galaxies will continue their quiet dance. A reminder that even the largest things in the universe are always moving, always changing.