Today, the great Andromeda Galaxy lies roughly 2.36 million light-years from our own Milky Way Galaxy. However, the two largest members of the Local Group of galaxies are on a collision course. Over the next several billion years they will get closer and closer to one another, eventually merging in about 7 billion years.
This animation predicts what the Milky Way and Andromeda galaxies might look like as they are merging. The perspective is from a safe distance, far away from the collision.
This artistic animation shows what the great collision might look like to residents living in the Milky Way.
