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t1_j3j9kxs wrote

Reply to comment by in Milkdromeda. by

It is believed that our galaxy is already merging slightly with andromeda

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t1_j3jbzl1 wrote

I don't think that is true? Both galaxies have diameters of around 100k-150k light years but are 2.5 million light years apart.

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t1_j3je2dk wrote

There was this news about the galactic halos (? I think) of both maybe being way bigger than previously thought, and if they are as big as the new calculations showed, then yes, the two galaxies would technically already be touching. The actual collision is still way ahead of us tho.

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t1_j3jey8d wrote

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t1_j3n9l2f wrote

The research linked seems to focus on the gases surrounding galaxies. The article seems to want to refine what the edge of a galaxy actually is to make the claim they are already merging to get the clicks. I'm not sure exactly how the edge of a galaxy is defined, but if you screw with the definition enough you can claim the entire observable universe is merging.

Happy Cake day btw!

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