The universe has thrown a curveball to scientists, as the fate of the Milky Way hangs in the balance, as scientists now claim it might avoid a cosmic catastrophe that was once thought inevitable.
See the tweet below this post.
Recent findings revealed just a 50-50 chance of collision with the neighboring Andromeda galaxy.
This challenges the liberal scientific establishment’s previous doomsday predictions and shows yet another example of so-called “settled science” being anything but settled.
An international research team led by scientists from the University of Helsinki has revised long-held beliefs about the galaxy’s future.
Their study, published in Nature Astronomy, indicates that the Milky Way has only a coin flip’s chance of merging with Andromeda within the next 10 billion years, significantly lower than previous estimates that a collision was almost inevitable.
The researchers reached their conclusions using sophisticated simulations based on NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope data and the European Space Agency’s Gaia mission.
Contrary to other studies, this one incorporated more precise measurements and accounted for gravitational influences from nearby galaxies that the scientific establishment had overlooked.
We've been told our Milky Way galaxy is hurtling towards an inevitable, head-on collision with its colossal neighbor, Andromeda, in few billion years. But that may not be the case…https://t.co/Sa9UPorTQE
— HotHardware (@HotHardware) June 3, 2025
The research’s even more striking finding is that a direct, head-on collision between the Milky Way and Andromeda is extremely unlikely, with less than a 2% chance.
If the galaxies do not come within 500,000 light-years of each other, they might pass by harmlessly, avoiding a merger altogether.
“In short, the probability went from near-certainty to a coin flip,” the researcher said.
Interestingly, the study showed the Milky Way is more likely to merge with the Large Magellanic Cloud, the largest satellite galaxy, within the next two billion years.
This finding demonstrates how quickly scientific “certainties” can change when new data emerges.
For decades, mainstream astronomers confidently stated that the Milky Way would collide with Andromeda within about 5 billion years, even giving the theoretical combined galaxy a name: “Milkomeda.”
Now, that narrative has been completely upended, showing how scientific predictions can be as changeable as weather forecasts.
Moreover, the study considered several previously ignored factors, including gravitational influences from the Triangulum galaxy and the Large Magellanic Cloud.
These galaxies affect the orbital paths of both the Milky Way and Andromeda, highlighting how complex cosmic interactions can be – and how easily scientific models can miss critical variables.
While this cosmic dance plays out over billions of years, it serves as a reminder of how scientific “facts” can change dramatically when new evidence emerges.
With current observations still a work in progress, further insights will refine the understanding of such cosmic interactions.
Whether the galaxy ultimately collides with Andromeda or not, one thing is certain: the sun will expand and die in about 5 billion years, potentially engulfing Earth.
