Will Andromeda steal the sun?

[DesertFox]

Our Milky Way galaxy is headed for a sedate collision with its neighbour, the Andromeda galaxy, billions of years earlier than was previously thought. The earlier date means that the Sun will still be alive when the two collide; and a new computer simulation shows what could happen to our star.

There's a good chance that it will be flung towards the outer edge of our galaxy, researchers say, and a tiny chance that it will be 'kidnapped' by Andromeda.

http://www.nature.com/news/2007/070514/images/070514-3_large.jpg

"The merger will take place before the Sun burns out, so that future astronomers within the Solar System can witness it," says Abraham Loeb of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Although this will be tens of millions of lifetimes from now, it is conceivable that humans may still exist when the two galaxies finally meet.

More (http://www.nature.com/news/2007/070514/full/070514-3.html)

[DesertFox]

Well, I for one am glad this collision is going to happen. The dudes in Andromeda been gloating for several billion years now because their galaxy is bigger than ours, and I'm sick of it.

Also, if we can scout around and find a few other galaxies our size or better, and get them to throw in with us, then we can challenge The Great Attractor.

[DoctorDoom]

Although this will be tens of millions of lifetimes from now, it is conceivable that humans may still exist when the two galaxies finally meet.Any similarity between man of the 21st century and man of 3 billion years in the future would be nonexistent. We could exterrminate ourselves, or we could expand our species throughout the galaxy if not the universe by then.

But this is all speculation, since Gorebull Warming will destroy humanity a week from next Tuesday.

[DeclinetoState]

This collision of the galaxies is obviously Bush's fault, too.

[DesertFox]

Any similarity between man of the 21st century and man of 3 billion years in the future would be nonexistent.Why, Doc?

[DoctorDoom]

Technology and genetic manipulation. Within a millenium, man will be a species designed by science for the vastly-extended lifespans necessary for interstellar travel—assuming that no FTL or interdimensional drive technology has been developed to erase the issue of distance on an interstellar scale—and for adaptability to hostile alien environments. In fact, I can envision creating bodies specifically tailored for worlds that are habitable but sufficiently different that they would be inhospitable to the human standard. After that, intelligence transfer would provide beings perfectly suited to the planets.

In three gigayears ...

[Un Con Troll Able]

I say we use our nukes to take out the Andromeda galaxy before it has the chance to hijack our beloved star.

[PrezLeefun]

I say we dump our trash in Andromeda.........

[DoctorDoom]

As long as it takes the planets with it, it won't be a big deal.

[Sarah]

Liberals in the future will blame this collision on global warming.