100,000 Computer Simulations Reveal Milky Way's Fate

For decades, astronomers believed that one thing was as certain as death and taxes: the Milky Way and our neighboring Andromeda galaxy were on a crash course… destined to collide in less than 5 billion years.

That galactic smash-up would spark massive star formation, scatter stars like cosmic billiard balls, and possibly throw our Sun into a whole new orbit.

But now… that future may not be so certain.

For more information, visit science.nasa.gov/mission/hubble

Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center
Paul Morris: Lead Producer

Video Credits:
Milky Way Timelapse
Stock Footage Provided By Pond5/lovemushroom

Artist Rendition of Gaia Spacecraft
ESA

Artist’s animation of the Sun becoming a red giant
ESA/Hubble (M. Kornmesser & L. L. Christensen)

Milky Way and Andromeda Collision Simulation
Visualization Credit: NASA, ESA, and F. Summers (STScI) Simulation Credit: NASA, ESA, G. Besla (Columbia University), and R. van der Marel (STScI)


Music Credit:
"Lost to Eternity" by Timothy James Cornick [PRS] via BBC Production Music [PRS] and Universal Production Music