Scientists have big rethink on possible Milky Way collision

• Nasa scientists initially predicted that the Milky Way and Andromeda galaxies would collide in four billion years.
• A new study published in Nature Astronomy, based on 100,000 simulations using data from Nasa's Hubble and the European Space Agency's Gaia space telescopes, indicates only a 2 per cent chance of a collision between the Milky Way and Andromeda in the next five billion years.
• The simulations suggest that in many scenarios, the galaxies will have close encounters but avoid a direct collision.
• They may potentially merge in eight to 10 billion years, by which time the sun may have already died.
• The updated findings incorporate the gravitational effects of the Large Magellanic Cloud, a dwarf galaxy orbiting the Milky Way, which influences the motion of the Milky Way and reduces the likelihood of a merger with Andromeda.

IN FULL

The Milky Way was on a collision course with a neighboring galaxy. Not anymore