A catastrophic merger with the Large Magellanic Cloud after 2 billion years can awaken a dormant supermassive black hole in our Galaxy, and although its high-energy radiation is unlikely to affect life on Earth, there is a possibility that a collision will eject the Solar System from the Milky Way.
The absorption of the Large Magellan Cloud by our Galaxy will awaken the black hole living in its center, turning the Milky Way into a quasar that generates powerful jets of high-energy radiation. They most likely will not get to the Solar System, however there is a small chance that we will not be able to remain unscathed in an Accident that could throw us into intergalactic space.
-says Marius Kautun from the Institute of Computational Cosmology of the University of Durham (UK), Lead author of the study
The Milky Way-like galaxies are surrounded by a group of smaller satellites that revolve around them, like bees around a hive. As a rule, satellite galaxies live quietly, remaining in their places for many billions of years. But sometimes their orbits are reduced, and they are absorbed by a larger galaxy.
The Large Magellanic Cloud is the brightest satellite galaxy of the Milky Way, which came under its influence only 1.5 billion years ago and is currently 163 thousand light years away. Until recently, astronomers thought that it would either revolve around the Milky Way for many billions of years, or, as it moves extremely quickly, would come out of the gravitational pull of our Galaxy.
However, recent measurements show that dark matter in the Large Magellanic Cloud is almost twice as large as previously thought. Researchers say that because its mass far exceeds the expected, the Large Magellanic Cloud quickly loses energy and is doomed to collide with the Milky Way.
The universe is constantly evolving, and often as a result of catastrophic events, such as the impending clash with the Large Magellanic Cloud. Except for any disasters, including damage to the solar system, our descendants, if any, will face a lot of impressions. For example, they will be able to observe bright cosmic fireworks, when a newly awakened supermassive black hole in the center of our Galaxy will actively absorb matter, increase tenfold and emit jets of high-energy radiation.
According to researchers, the confluence of the Milky Way and the Large Magellanic Cloud is long overdue by cosmic standards. Until now, our Galaxy has experienced not so many mergers with low-mass satellites, which distinguishes it from galaxies of similar structure and size. For example, the Andromeda nebula absorbed 30 times more material. Therefore, a collision with the Large Magellanic Cloud will make the Milky Way a more typical starry home.
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