StitchInTime Posted February 20, 2006 Share Posted February 20, 2006 Yes but before that happens, the Andromeda Galaxy (our nearest neighboring galaxy) will collide with the Milky Way Galaxy (yup, that's us, folks!) and Earth has a pretty slim chance of surviving that one... only if our solar system is on the opposite side of the galaxy when the collision occurs and our solar system gets thrown out into the further remote cold and lonely depths of space. But anyways, if we want to survive, we not only have to leave the solar system, but the galaxy as well, and even the universe itself because that will eventually burn out and/or be violently reborn. I'm not so sure. I don't think cosmologists are really finished figuring things out yet. The way I see it, every few years there's a new theory about the universe. No wonder some people prefer religious explanations. At least they're consistent, . . . well, relatively speaking. :rolleyes: As for the collision between galaxies, for all we know they'll just merge and live happily ever after. ;) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TetsuoShima Posted February 20, 2006 Share Posted February 20, 2006 As for the collision between galaxies' date=' for all we know they'll just merge and live happily ever after. ;)[/quote'] Those are very 'unpredictable' events at planetary level. Though, from ordinary reasoning, it'd dare say that chances are, that life as we know it, will most likely end should our Galaxy merge with another, once the effects of the merge become noticable in our region of the Galaxy. Because of changes in gravitanional pulls, it is likely that Earths orbit would shift significantly enough for the climate to change, in what direction it would: I can't tell... Now, this doesn't necessarily mean that the world will end though... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mav Posted February 20, 2006 Share Posted February 20, 2006 The world shall end when Chuck Norris wakes up from dreaming. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
queenhank Posted February 20, 2006 Share Posted February 20, 2006 But Chuck Norris does not sleep...he waits. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZaphodiLe Posted February 20, 2006 Share Posted February 20, 2006 Yes but before that happens, the Andromeda Galaxy (our nearest neighboring galaxy) will collide with the Milky Way Galaxy (yup, that's us, folks!) and Earth has a pretty slim chance of surviving that one... only if our solar system is on the opposite side of the galaxy when the collision occurs and our solar system gets thrown out into the further remote cold and lonely depths of space. But anyways, if we want to survive, we not only have to leave the solar system, but the galaxy as well, and even the universe itself because that will eventually burn out and/or be violently reborn. Unless it all ends tomorrow. *poof* Don't be so sure colliding with Andromeda would kill us :P You know, there are huge amounts of space between stars and planets. To illustrate this, my astronomy teacher made the whole class go outside to show us. He put a football on the ground (symbolising the sun) and made us put tiny tiny stones about 20-50 meters away symbolising the near stone planets. Pluto was a grain of dust 1.2 km away. And then he explained that the nearest star would be, if you count on it, 8860 km away (1.32 times around the world). And then the stars are the size of a football, remember that. So I really doubt this collision you're talking about would occur. Maybe another star's gravity field could affect Earth's orbit (or the planet we're living on), but hopefully not enough to kill us eh :P Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
queenhank Posted February 20, 2006 Share Posted February 20, 2006 The world isn't going t- Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StitchInTime Posted February 20, 2006 Share Posted February 20, 2006 Those are very 'unpredictable' events at planetary level. Though, from ordinary reasoning, it'd dare say that chances are, that life as we know it, will most likely end should our Galaxy merge with another, once the effects of the merge become noticable in our region of the Galaxy. Because of changes in gravitanional pulls, it is likely that Earths orbit would shift significantly enough for the climate to change, in what direction it would: I can't tell... Now, this doesn't necessarily mean that the world will end though... Like I said, or perhaps the outcome would be an improvement Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TetsuoShima Posted February 20, 2006 Share Posted February 20, 2006 To illustrate this, my astronomy teacher made the whole class go outside to show us. He put a football on the ground (symbolising the sun) and made us put tiny tiny stones about 20-50 meters away symbolising the near stone planets. Pluto was a grain of dust 1.2 km away. And then he explained that the nearest star would be, if you count on it, 8860 km away (1.32 times around the world). And then the stars are the size of a football, remember that. So I really doubt this collision you're talking about would occur. Maybe another star's gravity field could affect Earth's orbit (or the planet we're living on), but hopefully not enough to kill us eh :P I'm going to 'nitpick' a bit, but you're numbers are 'off', some a bit, some a lot. For example, the circumference of the Earth is approximately 40000 km, not 6700 km, or else spain and poland would be nearly on opposite sides of the Globe, which they are not :p And if you take the distance from the from the Sun to Pluto to be 1.2 km, then the distance to the closest star would be about 8200 km. And what you should not forget is that the mass of a Galaxy is huuuuuge, so when two galaxies merge, enourmous gravitational forces are put upon everything inside these galaxies. It is hard to predict what exactly would happen (even with intense study it would be hard to predict what exactly would happen to Earth with a high certainty), but I'm still quite certain that the Earth's orbit/trajectory would shift (as you say), but to what extend... Who knows, it could be a serious change that would take us away from the Sun completely, but it could also have a lesser effect, depending on the precise circumstances. though you can definately expect a well noticable effect. Like I said' date=' or perhaps the outcome would be an improvement[/quote'] An improvement? How would you explain that? I don't think there is much room for improvement on the planetary orbit level.... :D Still, it could be an improvement (as you say), but chances on that happening are very small. Anyway, I won't lie awake about it at night, I doubt we'll live to see anything like that and since the world ends anyway when I die, it doesn't matter at all.... :cyclops: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bbbb Posted February 20, 2006 Share Posted February 20, 2006 The world will end on Dec 31, 1999. Remember that old Y2K talk about the world ending and everyone buying loads of supplies like they did in 1962? They were pretty paranoid that day. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZaphodiLe Posted February 20, 2006 Share Posted February 20, 2006 To illustrate this, my astronomy teacher made the whole class go outside to show us. He put a football on the ground (symbolising the sun) and made us put tiny tiny stones about 20-50 meters away symbolising the near stone planets. Pluto was a grain of dust 1.2 km away. And then he explained that the nearest star would be, if you count on it, 8860 km away (1.32 times around the world). And then the stars are the size of a football, remember that. So I really doubt this collision you're talking about would occur. Maybe another star's gravity field could affect Earth's orbit (or the planet we're living on), but hopefully not enough to kill us eh :P I'm going to 'nitpick' a bit, but you're numbers are 'off', some a bit, some a lot. For example, the circumference of the Earth is approximately 40000 km, not 6700 km, or else spain and poland would be nearly on opposite sides of the Globe, which they are not :p And if you take the distance from the from the Sun to Pluto to be 1.2 km, then the distance to the closest star would be about 8200 km. And what you should not forget is that the mass of a Galaxy is huuuuuge, so when two galaxies merge, enourmous gravitational forces are put upon everything inside these galaxies. It is hard to predict what exactly would happen (even with intense study it would be hard to predict what exactly would happen to Earth with a high certainty), but I'm still quite certain that the Earth's orbit/trajectory would shift (as you say), but to what extend... Who knows, it could be a serious change that would take us away from the Sun completely, but it could also have a lesser effect, depending on the precise circumstances. though you can definately expect a well noticable effect. Like I said' date=' or perhaps the outcome would be an improvement[/quote'] An improvement? How would you explain that? I don't think there is much room for improvement on the planetary orbit level.... :D Still, it could be an improvement (as you say), but chances on that happening are very small. Anyway, I won't lie awake about it at night, I doubt we'll live to see anything like that and since the world ends anyway when I die, it doesn't matter at all.... :cyclops: I took the numbers from a wikipedia like site, they must've been wrong(or maybe it was diameter/radius). And the distance to Pluto is relative (elliptic orbit) so I'm not surprised we got differend numbers. Anyway, its the size order that matters. I am pretty sure (or so i've been taught) that with two galaxies colliding only a very small part of the matter in them would actually collide. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GorunNova Posted February 20, 2006 Share Posted February 20, 2006 The world will end... NOW! *BOOM!* ... funny, nothing's changed. Fancy that. ^^ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StitchInTime Posted February 21, 2006 Share Posted February 21, 2006 Anyway' date=' its the size order that matters. I am pretty sure (or so i've been taught) that with two galaxies colliding only a very small part of the matter in them would actually collide.[/quote'] Ah, so it probably doesn't 'matter.' ;) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StitchInTime Posted February 21, 2006 Share Posted February 21, 2006 The world will end... NOW! *BOOM!* ... funny, nothing's changed. Fancy that. ^^ Ah, I think that's because it's still here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arktis Posted February 21, 2006 Author Share Posted February 21, 2006 Stars matter much more abundant in the middle of galaxies than way out here where we are, and it's the interaction between the supermassive black holes and their thick surrounding stellar matterial that you really have to worry about, not individual collisions down to the level of planetary systems like ours. The merging galactic cores would come alive like the light of creation and the fires of hell combined and burn like this for a few hundred million years. Star birth would occur at a much much faster rate. The tidal forces involved before and during would be immensely powerful, disrupting planetary systems, and throwing stars all over the place. There is a chance that the Sol system's (us) distance from the center may "save" it as it is merely thrown away from the galaxies (this is where I get hazy), but that's probably going to seriously disrupt things for any life that might be present at the time. And I shudder to contemplate the amount of harmful radiation involved. Anyways, I did a little bit of research and some sources say that the two galaxies may simply be orbiting around eachother; and it is only one a scenario that places the two galaxies on a collision course - anywhere from three to five billion years depending on where your information is coming from. At any rate, even if they are merely orbiting, it is extremely likely that they will one day collide, whether it be in three billion years or twenty. It seems that most sources are strongly of the idea that they will collide and it will be in a only a few billion years. Check out the space.com article on it (two pages). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TetsuoShima Posted February 21, 2006 Share Posted February 21, 2006 I took the numbers from a wikipedia like site, they must've been wrong(or maybe it was diameter/radius). And the distance to Pluto is relative (elliptic orbit) so I'm not surprised we got differend numbers. Anyway, its the size order that matters. I am pretty sure (or so i've been taught) that with two galaxies colliding only a very small part of the matter in them would actually collide. Ah, yes of course, it was not my intention to make it sound as if actual planets would collide, but still, actual collisions are not necessary to have serious changes in trajectories. As for Pluto, you're right, my calculation is based upon the average distance, but indeed the order is more important (I told you i was 'nitpicking' :p ). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
proton45 Posted February 21, 2006 Share Posted February 21, 2006 the world will end with the last reel... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
atgxtg Posted February 21, 2006 Share Posted February 21, 2006 End? I don't think that the world has finished beginning yet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZaphodiLe Posted February 21, 2006 Share Posted February 21, 2006 The merging galactic cores would come alive like the light of creation and the fires of hell combined and burn like this for a few hundred million years. Well that kinda sucks :P Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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