Take a good look at the latest image courtesy of the Hubble Space Telescope. It shows an elliptical galaxy called NGC 474 about 100 million light-years away from us. About two and a half times bigger than our Milky Way Galaxy, it’s really smokey. Notice its strange shape — most of it flawless and almost circular, but with shells folded in the middle. Astronomers want to know what created these shells. The answer may be what the galaxy stands for: a vision of the future Milky Way and the Andromeda Galaxy.
The End of the Milky Way: When the Galaxies Collide!
Galaxies change over time. More than thirteen billion years ago, the first were fragments of an object. They came together to build bigger and larger buildings. That process of integration and cannibalism continues today. It influences the “appearance” of the galaxy and adds variety to its stars. Our Milky Way is part of that process. Currently, it eats the flesh of the Sagittarius Dwarf Galaxy.
Astronomers already know that the Milky Way will continue to be part of the galaxy’s orbit. Approximately 4.5 to 5 billion years from now it will begin to collide with the nearby Andromeda Galaxy (M31). Yes, the M31 will be very close to us in the medium term. As an added bonus, the Triangulum Galaxy (M33) may also participate in this galaxy dance. For those of you who keep track of these things, this will happen when the Sun runs out of hydrogen at its core and begins to emerge into a red giant. So, it will be an exciting timeMark your calendars.
The NGC 474 looks very much like what astronomers think the Milky Way and Andromeda will be like after their integration. There will no longer be two beautiful spirals. Instead, their gravitational pull will produce an almost flawless elliptical galaxy. How will that come about? As the two galaxies close together, the gravitational pull of each other will distort their shape. Large gas and dust streamers will be released from each galaxy. There may be intermediate material shells, such as in NGC 474.
Birth star will slow down and stop
On top of all that work, there is one more unifying mark: starburst knots. They are the constellations that occur after the encounter. This activity pushes gas and dust clouds together, eventually creating scads of hot, young stars. That will happen as long as there are enough objects found in the star’s birthplace. Eventually, the birth star will slow down and stop. A new galaxy that will emerge will take on an elliptical shape that looks boring. That, in short, is what happened to NGC 474. Also, the conclusion of Milkdromeda: the flawless (almost) elliptical that once was two beautiful orbiting galaxies.
In the case of NGC 474, astronomers have a few ideas as to why this shell is so unusual. One theory is that he encountered another galaxy billions of years ago. That created the shells with a process like throwing a stone into a pond and watching as the waves move from it. The NGC 474 is not the only one with a collision caused by a collision. About 10 percent of all ellipticals have these characteristics. That may be a clue as to its composition and the history of compilation that will be investigated by astronomers. There is something else that is fascinating about these galaxies. While most ellipticals are collections, these oddballs take up empty space. They may have eaten up nearby galaxies and thus removed any galaxy rivalry from their vicinity.
More ideas about NGC 474
It is also possible that NGC 474 emits gas in a nearby space called NGC 470. Another theory is that shells may be caused by collisions with a galaxy rich in gas. Not only did they meet once, but they had a second collision that led to their last reunion. The shells are evidence of that long-established galaxy. Hubble’s view gives a more detailed look to that region in the middle of those mysterious shells.
For more read: https://www.universetoday.com/155989/is-this-the-future-of-the-milky-way/
READ ALSO : MP: Woman killed in attack by wild elephants
