Two Galaxies Are Heading Straight For Each Other — And Barely A Star Will Flinch

Another galaxy is aimed directly at us, right now. Andromeda — 2.5 million light-years away, the most distant thing you can spot with the naked eye on a clear night — is closing in at around 110 kilometres per second. In roughly 4.5 billion years, it will begin to merge with the Milky Way. Two vast galaxies, hundreds of billions of stars apiece, folding into one another. You might expect carnage. Here is the twist: almost no individual stars will actually collide. Galaxies look dense, but the space between stars is so enormous that they will pass through each other like two swarms of bees flying in opposite directions — occupying the same space, barely touching. The result even has a name: Milkomeda. Follow Deep Field Vault for more of the universe hiding in plain sight.