Milky Way May Not Be Destroyed In Galactic Smash-Up After All

The Milky Way and the even-larger galaxy Andromeda are speeding towards each other at 100 kilometres a second.

The Milky Way may not have a catastrophic collision with another huge galaxy as has been predicted, computer simulations revealed Monday, giving our home galaxy a coin-flip chance of avoiding destruction.

But don't worry either way: no galactic smash-up is expected for billions of years, long after our ageing Sun will have burnt away all life on Earth.

The Milky Way and the even-larger galaxy Andromeda are speeding towards each other at 100 kilometres (60 miles) a second, and scientists have long predicted they will collide in around 4.5 billion years.

That would be bad news for our neighbourhood. 

Previous research has suggested that the Sun -- and our Earth -- could wind up in the centre of this newly merged "Milkomeda" galaxy and get sucked into its supermassive black hole. Alternatively, the Sun could be shot out into the emptiness of intergalactic space.

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