How does expansion fit in with colliding galaxies?

by EndofMysteries 24 Replies latest members adult

  • EndofMysteries
    EndofMysteries

    I've seen it described and taught many times that from the big bang, space is expanding and all parts expand equally. Almost like a balloon if you put marks on it, they will move outward equally and never touch each other. 

    But then I hear about colliding galaxies such as, "the Andromeda galaxy is racing toward the Milky Way at a speed of 250,000 mph â€” fast enough to circle the world in just six minutes. And it's scheduled to collide, head-on, with the Milky Way in approximately 3.75 billion years."  

    How does expansion fit it to that?  Based on the rubber band, balloon, etc explanations for expansion, it should be impossible that two galaxies collide no? 

  • sir82
    sir82

    Sigh.

    Google is your friend.

  • Village Idiot
    Village Idiot
    I believe, if I'm not mistaken, that expansion is only progressing slowly in our era but is due to speed up in the billions of years to come. It is said that many billions of years from now expansion will get to the point where we won't be able to see anything outside of our galaxy.
  • OneEyedJoe
    OneEyedJoe

    It's all about scale.  Space is expanding, but that doesn't mean that we're getting noticeably further from the sun.  The same works for Andromeda.  On a cosmic scale, it's quite close to us and heading towards us.  Space between us and Andromeda is expanding, but at a rate that makes the expansion nearly negligible compared to the relative velocities involved.  

    The Andromeda galaxy is another member of the "local group" (those astrophysicists are just so creative with their names, aren't they?) of galaxies.  Their gravitational interaction keeps them in a cluster together for now, and can even cause collisions like the one we're destined for.  While the universe is expanding, the immense gravity created by the galaxies grouped relatively closely overwhelms the expansion at a local level.

  • Marvin Shilmer
    Marvin Shilmer

    How does expansion fit it to that? 

    How? The same force that draws asteroids to collide with other planetary objects also draws galaxies to collision, when proximity is sufficiently close. Gravity. 


  • Viviane
    Viviane
    Googles and maths, how does it work?
  • disposable hero of hypocrisy
    disposable hero of hypocrisy
    Thanks for asking this,  it's something I hadn't even wondered about and even if I had I'd prolly be afraid to look ignorant if I asked.  Good question. 
  • Village Idiot
    Village Idiot
    Just as a side comment, this universe manifests both order and disorder but not intelligent design. Jehovah is not a good designer. He should have taken architect classes before creating it.
  • EndofMysteries
    EndofMysteries

    I haven't found any really good answer.  

    If gravity can overcome the expansion, could there be a scenario where instead of infinite expansion and one day no galaxies seeing anything outside of their galaxy instead be that galaxies collide, creating larger ones with more mass and stronger gravity,  and eventually they all eat up one another?  (like when droplets of water touch they become one larger one) 

  • Viviane
    Viviane
    Then you've not looked very hard.

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