Recent study said Andromeda galaxy was formed in a ‘recent’ colossal crash between two star systems

The researchers led by Francois Hammer used the most powerful available computers in France to crunch an enormous amount of data

A recent study published in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society said Andromeda galaxy was formed in a colossal crash between two star systems no more than three billion years ago when the Earth already existed; according to a story posted on GMA News website.

The researchers noted the former study that states certain stars orbit erratically in Andromeda while in Milky Way all stars observe a simple rotation around the galaxy’s center; the team of French and Chinese researchers led by Francois Hammer said it is explained by its recent formation.

Their study revealed that two galaxies — one four times more than the other — found themselves in a collision course between seven to ten billion years ago.

To come up with the conclusion, the team crunched about a terabyte of data — the equivalent of two million 500-kilobyte photos — using the most powerful available computers in France.

The observatory stated that the technology made it possible for them to zoom in on “the physical mechanisms of the Andromeda formation, so lifting the veil on its origin.”

The team simulated both precursor galaxies’ trajectories and calculated that they fused between 1.8 billion and three billion years ago to forge Andromeda.

The vast age between the different stars that Andromeda is made up of is a major challenge for astrophysicists to calculate its birth date.

The Andromeda Galaxy is a spiral galaxy approximately 780 kiloparsecs (2.5 million light-years) from Earth and the nearest major galaxy to the Milky Way.

Watch these two reconstructions of the Andromeda formation from ‘Observatoire de Paris:

Share This Post