how nasa plot course to andromeda

How far away can you see the Andromeda Galaxy?

How far can you see? The Andromeda Galaxy, 2.5 million light years away, is the most distant object easily seen by the unaided eye. Other denizens of the night sky, like stars, clusters, and nebulae, are typically hundreds to thousands of light-years distant.

What happens when the Milky Way and Andromeda collide?

Andromeda Galaxy. Andromeda, also known as Messier 31 (M31), is a spiral galaxy located about 2.5 million light years away. It is thought that the Milky Way and Andromeda will collide several billion years from now. The black holes located in both galaxies will then reside in the large, elliptical galaxy that results from this merger.

What makes the Andromeda Galaxy so special?

Underlying the entire galaxy is a smooth distribution of cooler red stars that trace Andromeda’s evolution over billions of years. Because the galaxy is only 2.5 million light-years from Earth, it is a much bigger target in the sky than the myriad galaxies Hubble routinely photographs that are billions of light-years away.

Is Andromeda the only galaxy we can see with the Hubble telescope?

In fact, Andromeda is the only galaxy in the universe for which this experiment can be done now, and only with Hubble. Only with an ultraviolet-sensitive future space telescope will scientists be able to routinely undertake this type of experiment beyond the approximately 30 galaxies comprising the Local Group.

How was the distance to Andromeda determined?

Answer. Distances to deep-sky objects such as the Andromeda galaxy are often determined using what are referred to as "Standard Candles", which means that astronomers look for objects located within the target for which they believe they know the intrinsic luminosity (how bright it actually is).

Is Andromeda galaxy heading our way?

Our Milky Way galaxy is destined to collide with our closest large neighbor, the Andromeda galaxy, in about five billion years. There's no stopping it, but we can predict what's going to happen, and thanks to powerful new telescopes, we can even watch previews by studying other galaxy mergers.

How long would it take a spaceship to get to Andromeda?

Although it may be one of the closest galaxies to our own, since the Andromeda Galaxy is 2.5 million light years distant it would take 2.5 million years to get there if (and it's a huge 'if') we could travel at the speed of light.

Why is Andromeda on a collision course with the Milky Way?

Taking also into account the sun's motion, Andromeda's tangential or sideways velocity with respect to the Milky Way was found to be much smaller than the speed of approach (consistent with zero given the uncertainty) and therefore it will eventually merge with the Milky Way in around 5 billion years.

Will humans survive Andromeda collision?

Luckily, experts think that Earth will survive, but it won't be entirely unaffected. The collision will unfold right in front of us, changing the night sky to look like nothing any human has seen before.

Can Andromeda destroy Earth?

"I think it's unlikely the Earth will be physically destroyed by the collision with Andromeda," Mackey said. "It's not out of the question, but in general the stars in galaxies are spaced sufficiently sparsely that direct collisions between stars are rare.

How long would it take Voyager 1 to reach Andromeda?

... and even if we ignored that - it would need 3.3 billion years for the journey at the current distance. And that's just 3,299,999,980 years after the power supply ran out.

Will humans ever travel to other galaxies?

The technology required to travel between galaxies is far beyond humanity's present capabilities, and currently only the subject of speculation, hypothesis, and science fiction. However, theoretically speaking, there is nothing to conclusively indicate that intergalactic travel is impossible.

Will humans ever travel at the speed of light?

Based on our current understanding of physics and the limits of the natural world, the answer, sadly, is no. According to Albert Einstein's theory of special relativity, summarized by the famous equation E=mc2, the speed of light (c) is something like a cosmic speed limit that cannot be surpassed.

Will Earth be destroyed when the Milky Way and Andromeda collide?

Researchers estimate that the Milky Way will collide with its nearest neighbor, the Andromeda galaxy, at around that time—well before the sun collapses into a white dwarf, perhaps destroying the Earth in the process.

How does NASA take pictures of the Milky Way?

Several different telescopes, both on the ground and in space, have taken images of the disk of the Milky Way by taking a series of pictures in different directions – a bit like taking a panoramic picture with your camera or phone.

Is black hole in Milky Way?

The Milky Way's black hole is huge compared to the black holes left behind when massive stars die (opens in new tab). But astronomers think there are supermassive black holes at the center of nearly all galaxies. Compared to most of these, Sagittarius A* is meager and unremarkable.

How many light years away is Hubble?

Though the galaxy is over 2 million light-years away, Hubble is powerful enough to resolve individual stars in this 61,000-light-year-long stretch of the disk. It’s like photographing a beach and resolving individual grains of sand.

How many light years does M31 have?

Despite the size of Hubble’s massive mosaic, it does not span even half of the galaxy. This image from Hubble spans 7,900 light-years and reveals M31’s crowded central region. The bright area to the right of the center is a grouping of stars nestled around the galaxy’s black hole.

Who took the M31 mosaic image?

Williams and L.C. Johnson (University of Washington), the PHAT team and R. Gendler. Hubble’s M31 mosaic image, taken by the Panchromatic Hubble Andromeda Treasury (PHAT) program, is shown in context with a ground-based image of the entire galaxy.

What are the blue dots on the sky?

The blue dots sprinkled throughout the image are ultra-blue stars that have prematurely cast off their outer layers of material, exposing their extremely hot cores. Credits: NASA, ESA and B. Williams and J. Dalcanton (University of Washington, Seattle) Assembled from a total of 7,398 exposures taken over 411 individual pointings of the telescope, ...

How far is Andromeda's halo from the Milky Way?

Scientists were surprised to find that this tenuous, nearly invisible halo of diffuse plasma extends 1.3 million light-years from the galaxy—about halfway to our Milky Way—and as far as 2 million light-years in some directions. This means that Andromeda’s halo is already bumping into the halo of our own galaxy.

Why do scientists believe the halos of Andromeda and the Milky Way are very similar?

Because we live inside the Milky Way, scientists cannot easily interpret the signature of our own galaxy’s halo. However, they believe the halos of Andromeda and the Milky Way must be very similar since these two galaxies are quite similar. The two galaxies are on a collision course, and will merge to form a giant elliptical galaxy beginning about ...

How many stars are in the Andromeda galaxy?

The Andromeda galaxy, also known as M31, is a majestic spiral of perhaps as many as 1 trillion stars and comparable in size to our Milky Way. At a distance of 2.5 million light-years, it is so close to us that the galaxy appears as a cigar-shaped smudge of light high in the autumn sky. If its gaseous halo could be viewed with the naked eye, ...

What is the Andromeda Halo made of?

The immense Andromeda halo is made of very rarified and ionized gas ...

How many quasars are there in Andromeda?

This illustration shows the location of the 43 quasars scientists used to probe Andromeda’s gaseous halo. These quasars—the very distant, brilliant cores of active galaxies powered by black holes—are scattered far behind the halo, allowing scientists to probe multiple regions. Looking through the immense halo at the quasars’ light, ...

What is the halo around Andromeda?

Scientists were surprised to find that this tenuous, nearly invisible halo of diffuse plasma extends 1.3 ...

What is the signature of the discovery of the gaseous halo of Andromeda?

A signature of this activity is the team’s discovery of a large amount of heavy elements in the gaseous halo of Andromeda. Heavier elements are cooked up in the interiors of stars and then ejected into space—sometimes violently as a star dies. The halo is then contaminated with this material from stellar explosions.

How many light years is Andromeda from Earth?

Because the galaxy is only 2.5 million light-years from Earth, it is a much bigger target in the sky than the myriad galaxies Hubble routinely photographs ...

What is the largest image ever taken of the Andromeda galaxy?

The largest NASA Hubble Space Telescope image ever assembled, this sweeping bird’s-eye view of a portion of the Andromeda galaxy (M31) is the sharpest large composite image ever taken of our galactic next-door neighbor.

How many light years away is the Hubble telescope?

Though the galaxy is over 2 million light-years away, The Hubble Space Telescope is powerful enough to resolve individual stars in a 61,000-light-year-long stretch of the galaxy’s pancake-shaped disk. It's like photographing a beach and resolving individual grains of sand. And there are lots of stars in this sweeping view -- over 100 million, ...

Where is the NASA panorama?

The panorama is being presented at the 225th Meeting of the Astronomical Society in Seattle, Washington. NASA is exploring our solar system and beyond to understand the universe and our place in it. We seek to unravel the secrets of our universe, its origins and evolution, and search for life among the stars.

Where is the Hubble telescope located?

NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, manages the telescope. The Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI) in Baltimore conducts Hubble science operations. STScI is operated for NASA by the Association ...

Andromeda Nebula Lies Outside Milky Way Galaxy

Astronomer Edwin Hubble, of the Mount Wilson Observatory at Pasadena, California, has solved the mystery of the spiral nebulae. The spiral nebulae look like hazy pin-wheels in the sky. He has determined that these objects are much more distant than previously thought. Therefore, they are distant galaxies and not part of our own Milky Way galaxy.

Spiral Nebulae are indeed "Island Universes"

Astronomer Edwin Hubble, of the Mount Wilson Observatory at Pasadena, California, has solved the mystery of the spiral nebulae. The spiral nebulae look like hazy pin-wheels in the sky. He has determined that these objects are much more distant than previously thought. Therefore, they are distant galaxies and not part of our own Milky Way galaxy.