Viewing a single comment thread. View all comments

P3n1sD1cK OP t1_iqscnv4 wrote

Reply to comment by JJ-Trash in Andromeda (M31) by P3n1sD1cK

Or a blessing haha, I feel like that would be both beautiful and terrifying.

31

Adeldor t1_iqsevo6 wrote

It'll be a very gentle affair at stellar scales, highly unlikely to have any noticeable effect, so sparse are the stars spread. Also, movement on human time spans won't be apparent. While still extremely unlikely, a possible close pass of a star could perturb the Oort cloud, sending comets/asteroids inward (and outward).

Also, the Earth will likely not be habitable at that time due to the Sun's changes.

I'm great fun at parties.

76

poetic_vibrations t1_iqsh5m4 wrote

Is the center of the galaxy a lot more unstable considering it almost looks like a single point of light? Or are all the stars still far enough from each other to not really have an effect on each other?

9

turtlebuttdestroyer t1_iqstb40 wrote

Still 10s or 100s of light years apart, things would definitely be more interesting in the center of the galaxies as they merge but not by much.

8

Fogfy t1_iqsem07 wrote

Unlikely that our Earth will be smashed into anything when it does. There's so much empty space that it's statistically unlikely anything collides, or so I've read.

12

P3n1sD1cK OP t1_iqsfb97 wrote

I'm more concerned that Earth would be affected by the gravity of something else and be slingshot out of the mix

8

Fogfy t1_iqskke9 wrote

That's definitely more of a possibility, good observation. Now that I think of it, happy to think I won't be alive to witness it, but still an exciting thought. I wish I could be like an immortal God to witness the orchestral dance of the cosmos. Truly beautiful, the ultimate beauty of existence are the heavens.

10

turtlebuttdestroyer t1_iqsu464 wrote

If the earth was flung out of the solar system by something elses gravity, then it's likely the rest of the solar system, or the majority of it, would be destroyed as well. My biggest fear is a black hole coming close to earth, because there likely won't be anything we could do about.

4

LummoxJR t1_iqty65e wrote

Earth will be uninhabitable by then anyway.

3