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In space, the galaxy Andromeda is the closest major galaxy to our own Milky Way. A mere 2.5 million light years away, it was named from its appearance in the constellation Andromeda (named from the mythological princess Andromeda).
This work depicts future events in history, which will occur slowly over the next 7 billion years. Andromeda is approaching the Milky Way Galaxy at about 68 miles per second, and in about 4 billion years the two spiral galaxies will collide and merge to form one giant elliptical galaxy. The fate of Earth and our Solar System is currently unknown, but since galaxies are mostly empty space, it is practically impossible that the Earth and its Solar System will collide with any other objects during the collision. |