The Milky Way Getting Torn Apart by Another Galaxy
By: Charles Stephen
Tags: Galaxy, Universe, Science, Space, Technology

The Milky Way Getting Torn Apart by Another Galaxy

The Milky Way Galaxy — Image by Public Domain

All our lives, we have been admiring the heavens at night. The night time sky is when we see it best — all the formations. Some of us have been around others who were knowledgeable enough to teach us how to identify individual stars and constellations.

Wouldn’t it be hard to comprehend the notion of that sky view becoming distorted and possibly destroyed?

It seems that recently, astronomers have begun sounding the alarm of such a thing.

Professional star gazers are observing how our Milky Way Galaxy is slowly becoming deformed and twisted. And it is because of the gravitational forces being exerted by a neighboring satellite galaxy known as the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC)¹.

Dramatic effect on the Milky Way observed

University of Edinburgh researchers have been applying various statistical models to evaluate the most distant stars’ velocity in both the Milky Way and the LMC.

Recent findings have smashed the long-accepted perception that the Milky Way was relatively static. As a result of this, new models to assess the galaxy’s evolution and motion will have to be re-designed.

Presently, our Milky Way is being stretched by gravitational forces from a halo of dark matter that circles the LMC, causing deformities in its shape. This discovery means that researchers will need to re-evaluate how the Milky Way was first formed and how it could affect other assumptions made about the galaxy in general.

History of the Milky Way requires revision

Dr. Michael Petersen, the study’s lead author, and his colleagues revealed how the LMC crossed over the Milky Way’s boundary line about 700 million years ago — which is relatively recent by cosmological standards. But because of the large amount of dark matter surrounding this satellite galaxy — it has dramatically disturbed the motion and fabric of the Milky Way along the way.

As many of us know, dark matter is seen as the mysterious ‘glue’ holding galaxies together. Thus far, no one has ever seen it because it does not reflect, emit, or absorb light.

The research team indicated we are witnessing today the effects of this reasonably recent collision, and therefore, the Milky Way’s history will have to be revised.

Stars from the Large Magellanic Cloud — Image by Public Domain

Milky Way’s satellite galaxy

The LMC was named after the well-known 16th-century Portuguese explorer named Ferdinand Magellan, the first human to circumnavigate the Earth.

Data from previous studies concluded that the LMC has a halo of dark matter that resides beyond its galactic disc. Many astronomers believe that all galaxies have this characteristic in some form or fashion.

Researchers have concluded that the powerful force from the LMC’s dark matter halo is pulling the Milky Way at around 71,600 mph — which is an astonishing 20 miles per second.

Surprising observation

The most surprising aspect of this observation is that the Milky Way is not moving towards the LMC’s current location, as was assumed. It is moving toward a point in its past trajectory. The Milky Way is moving in the opposite direction, towards the Pegasus constellation.

This makes no sense, but there is a good reason. The LMC is also being propelled by its immense gravitational force and moves even faster away — at a speed of 800,000 mph, 230 miles per second.

The Milky Way is trying to chase the LMC but cannot catch up to this fast-moving target.

Remodeling galaxies

These discoveries will greatly assist scientists in coming up with new models to describe the powerful interplay between these galaxies. Their first step will be finding out the LMC’s initial direction and when it took place.

This should unveil the amount of dark matter in both the Milky Way and LMC in great detail. It cannot be underemphasized how intensely these new findings rocked previous beliefs about our galaxy. No longer is it assumed to be in a static state.

And in addition to this, another research team from Durham University concluded in 2019 that the LMC would destroy Earth in around 2 billion years². This is because it has re-awakened an enormous black hole in the Milky Way that had been previously dormant.