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I was looking at a picture of the Andromeda Galaxy and realized it's already colliding with us
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christopher_wilson3mo ago
Man, that always gets me. We talk about it like a future event, but the light we see is so old. By the time it reaches our eyes, the collision is already well underway in real time. It's like watching a recording of your own birth.
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dakotab131mo ago
and the really crazy part nobody talks about is how this whole collision thing messes with our idea of "us" vs "them". like, the andromeda galaxy isn't just some distant neighbor slamming into us. we're both made of the same recycled star stuff from way back. it's not two separate things colliding, it's more like two old friends merging into one big mess. by the time our great great great grandkids are looking up at the sky, the milky way and andromeda won't even be separate galaxies anymore. they'll be one giant thing. we're basically watching ourselves get absorbed into something bigger.
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