When you look into the night sky on a clear night, what do you see? Chances are you won’t see many stars in the urban heart of San Francisco. Stargazing is truly an amazing thing, if you really think about it. The universe is so vast and multitudinous that we as human beings can’t grasp the concept of limitless space. The lights you see aren’t necessarily stars. When you gaze at the night sky in an isolated area where stars are plentiful, you might notice a small, glistening cluster. This is known as the Andromeda Galaxy (M31), and it is around 2.5 million light years away from us today. One light year is equal to 6 trillion miles! That’s extraordinarily far, and yet the gravitational pull of both galaxies are bringing us together. NASA predicts that we will inevitably collide in roughly four billion years. So as of now, there is no need to worry.

If it will take four billion years for Andromeda to reach the Milky Way, then I bet you’re thinking that M31 is approaching us slowly, right? Think again, because Andromeda is traveling at approximately 250,000 miles per hour. That’s around 6 million miles a day! After their collision, it is understood that the two galaxies will have formed into one mega cluster of moons, planets, and stars, orbiting in complete chaos. (Kind of like after school every day.)

We know that these galaxies were created “in the Big Bang in close proximity… (but) are now falling back towards each other,” as stated by Brent Tully in his interview (Institute of Astronomy at the University of Hawaii, Honolulu). According to the Hubble Site’s NASA press release, it will take 2 billion years after the collision to form this new mega-galaxy that will be the child of Andromeda and the Milky Way. Perhaps this future galaxy will be called Milkdromeda, or Andromilky. (I ship it).

Not to worry, because Earth will most likely survive this collision, but it will definitely be thrown off course. Humans on Earth during that time will encounter amazing star spectacles in their dark sky. The moon will drift further away from us, so who knows what our oceans may look like. The continents will have changed shapes due to the continental drift, and different organisms, species, and diseases will emerge. We should also think about what Andromeda may be going through. Are there humans or some other form of intelligence in this approaching galaxy? Do they know that they’re going to collide with us? When we do merge, will we ever become in contact? Will we contact them peacefully, or will it turn into a scene from Star Trek? Is another person typing the same column as me this very moment?

These questions may sound absurd, but the fact that two very distant galaxies are being pulled together also sounds ridiculous. There are many bad things that happen on Earth daily, but sometimes, it’s just best to live in the moment, and not sweat the small stuff. So next time you feel pretentious or above someone else, just remember that we’re headed for an inevitable galactic collision that will throw our solar system out of whack and hurl Earth into the blinding darkness of space. It’s crazy how we humans can get so big headed and conceited, but in the end we’re all just little stitches in the fabric of time and space.