Posted on 05/23/2022 3:33:51 PM PDT by MtnClimber
Explanation: This picture of Andromeda shows not only where stars are now, but where stars will soon be. Of course, the big, beautiful Andromeda Galaxy, M31, is a spiral galaxy -- and a mere 2.5 million light-years away. Both space-based and ground-based observatories have been here combined to produce this intriguing composite image of Andromeda, at wavelengths both inside and outside normally visible light. The visible light shows where M31's stars are now -- as highlighted in white and blue hues and imaged by the Hubble, Subaru, and Mayall telescopes. The infrared light shows where M31's future stars will soon form -- as highlighted in orange hues and imaged by NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope. The infrared light tracks enormous lanes of dust, warmed by stars, sweeping along Andromeda's spiral arms. This dust is a tracer of the galaxy's vast interstellar gas -- the raw material for future star formation. These new stars will likely form over the next hundred million years, surely well before Andromeda merges with our Milky Way Galaxy in about 5 billion years.
For more detail go to the link and click on the image for a high definition image. You can then move the magnifying glass cursor then click to zoom in and click again to zoom out. When zoomed in you can scan by moving the side bars on the bottom and right side of the image.
Build a wall, now.
“These new stars will likely form over the next hundred million years, surely well before Andromeda merges with our Milky Way Galaxy in about 5 billion years.”
Stop Galaxy Mergers, Now! :)
Because the cause to ‘Stop Plate Tectonics’ has worked so well. ;)
Gorgeous, Darling! We’re SO insignificant. So, until we get to The Other Side, just ENJOY your life! Hug your dog. Offer to rock the nearest baby. Tell those you love that you love them...daily! Grow a garden. Plant a tree. Sing. Dance. Skip. Gaze at the stars at every opportunity! Try not to miss the Sunrise and the Sunset each and EVERY day.
In comparison, we’re only here for 100 years, tops! Make the absolute MOST of it. :)
My Grandpa on his 89th (and later that year, his last) Birthday: “89 trips around the Sun - and it STILL ain’t enough!”
No threat from galactic collision because long before then, the sun will vaporize all water from the earth. Current timeline for that is 1 to 1.5 billion years. Well before the 5 billion collision.
As the sun ages, it gets bigger and hotter until it’s a red giant, then it gets worse for us (though we won’t be able to mind).
Besides, when galaxies collide there usually aren’t things actually bumping into each other. They just start swirling around and wind up being an elliptical galaxy.
New stars being formed while old stars will be getting older and perhaps dying off I wonder what ‘ol M31 will look like in a couple million years.
I wonder what it will look like thru the James Webb scope…
Baby star incubator.
Thanks for the heads up on that.
Excellent pictures...
As soon as I complete the construction of a TARDIS, we’ll be able to check the accuracy of the data interpretations...
We don’t know what the Andromeda Galaxy looks like now. We can only observe what it looked like 2,500,000 years ago.
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