As Byeol-maru’s telescope turned toward a very distant point, a hazy, enormous spiral appeared on the screen, similar to yet different from their own galaxy.
“Byeoli, is that our Milky Way too?”
“No, that’s the Andromeda Galaxy, a neighboring galaxy right next to our own Milky Way. It’s a spiral galaxy shaped a lot like ours, just a bit larger.”
Hyeongseop could hardly believe such an enormous galaxy existed out there too.
“How long would it take to get there?”
“Even on the fastest spacecraft we have today, it would take millions of years. Andromeda’s light alone takes 2.5 million years just to reach us. So what we’re looking at right now is actually what Andromeda looked like 2.5 million years ago.”
“It’s so far away, but you can still see it with the naked eye?”
“Surprisingly, yes, on a very dark, clear night, it’s faintly visible to the naked eye. It’s one of the farthest objects a human eye can actually see.”
“So do Andromeda and our Milky Way just stay separated like this forever?”
“Actually, no. The Andromeda Galaxy is very slowly moving toward our Milky Way. Calculations suggest the two galaxies will meet in about four billion years.”
“Wait, so they’re going to collide? Isn’t that dangerous?”
“Even if they do collide, there’s no need to worry. The distances between stars inside a galaxy are so enormous that even when two galaxies overlap, the chance of stars actually crashing into each other is nearly zero. Instead, the two galaxies will slowly blend together under each other’s gravity, merging into one new galaxy over an extremely long time.”
“Will our Sun and Earth still be around by then?”
“Well, that’s a slightly different question. By four billion years from now, the Sun itself will look very different from today. But the merger of the two galaxies itself would probably look like a spectacular, beautiful sight in the night sky.”
“What would the merged galaxy even be called?”
“Scientists have already given that future galaxy a nickname, combining the names Andromeda and Milky Way into one. They named a future that hasn’t even arrived yet.”
Hyeongseop imagined these two enormous galaxies quietly drifting toward each other, even at this very moment. Moving far too slowly for human eyes to ever notice, the universe was still, unmistakably, telling its story, one slow, unstoppable step at a time.
How Much Did You Remember?
- Where is the Andromeda Galaxy?
- How long does Andromeda’s light take to reach us?
- What will happen to the two galaxies?
- How likely are stars to actually collide when galaxies merge?
(Answers: 1. Right next to our Milky Way. 2. 2.5 million years. 3. They’ll merge in about 4 billion years. 4. Nearly zero, stars are spaced too far apart.)
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