Astronomers have created a 'galactic train wreck' atlas image depicting how a variety of galaxies around Earth will collide in five billion years time.The collision between the Milky Way - Earth's galaxy - and the Andromeda Galaxy is predicted to take place in between three and five billion years.
The 'train wreck' style merger of galaxies, is said by experts to reveal 'how galaxies form, grow and evolve'.
The atlas of galaxy collision was created using data from NASA's Spitzer and Galex space telescopes.
The Galex (Galaxy Evolution Explorer) telescope observes in ultraviolet l
Spitzer sees the infrared emission from warm dust heated by those stars, as well as from stellar surfaces.
Some galaxies, such as the NGC 935 and the IC 1801, have already begun their galactic 'smash-up'.
But the collision between Earth's Milky Way and the Andromeda Galaxy is not expected to take place for several billion years.
The collision is likely to trigger the birth of stars from smashed together clouds of cosmic gas and dust.
Lauranne Lanz of the Harvard Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, said: 'This atlas is the first step in reading the story of how galaxies form, grow, and evolve. Read More
