Milky Way–Andromeda Merger: Illustrative Simulation A

Milky Way–Andromeda Merger: Illustrative Simulation

A silent excerpt from my astronomy explainer visualizing a possible galaxy merger. Two spiral galaxies pass each other, pull out tidal tails and settle into one remnant. Labels distinguish the galaxies and an illustrative Sun marker follows one stellar path. This is a simplified, accelerated model, not a prediction of the Milky Way's exact future.

Script, art direction, fact-checking and QA by me; AI-assisted Python animation and simulation. Galaxy imagery: ESO, NGC 1232 and M83 stand-ins (eso9845d and eso0825a), CC BY 4.0; adapted for the visualization. https://www.eso.org/public/images/eso9845d/ https://www.eso.org/public/images/eso0825a/ https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/