Notes & Queries 1st November 2013 - Will the Milky Way collide with the Andromeda galaxy?

 

image generated by Grok

Naresh Pandey developed his theory of galactic migration while working a part-time job at the Transport Department in New Delhi, where he helped to gather data for a traffic mediation study. It was from the platform of a cherry picker, raised 30 feet above various busy intersections in the Indian capital city, that he looked down upon the jostling vehicles and imagined each one as a galaxy moving independently through space.

At the time of his eureka moment, Pandey was a hard-up PhD student of astrophysics at the Meerut Institute of Astronomical Sciences. The university is built around the ruins of the Bhumimitra Observatory, which date to the first century AD, although an observatory is thought to have stood there for many hundreds of years before that time.

His theory, which did not arrive fully-formed, was initially sketched-out and developed over a series of papers and lectures. In 1997 these articles were re-written in layman's terms by their author and published in a book titled: The Search for the Engine Room. An English version of the text, with an updated appendix, is currently available through the Ruby Avenue Press print on demand service.

Pandey's hypothesis is as follows: In every galaxy there are stars that effectively function as engines, propelling that galaxy through spacetime. These celestial bodies are distorted by the gravity fields of nearby objects that compress them into a variety of asymmetrical shapes. They can be identified by their 'engine flare' – a projection of super-heated gas, similar to that seen in the tail of a comet. The direction in which an engine star is pushing can be determined by measuring the spin of the charged particles around it. However, in all observable cases, this localised directional force is overwhelmed by greater external forces, and it is these that dictate the direction that a galaxy will travel.

As of 2012, all of the galaxies visible to us, with exception of Mitos L-01, have been shown to be moving in an upper-south-easterly direction, according to universal compass theory (UCT)1

In 2005, the space-archaeologist, Bernard Moane, observed that many galaxies including our own appeared to have migrated back and forth several times along established routes. Moane was able to demonstrate this by digging down through the accumulated strata of background radiation to reveal the directions of subatomic particles known as misons (he describes these particles as the biographers of the universe). All indicators point to the Milky Way having journeyed up and down along the same tract of space a grand total of seven times. Pandey has speculated that the forces drawing us in these directions may function a bit like the magnetic poles on Earth. In common with our poles they may occasionally change places with each other, thereby creating a situation in which our galaxy is pulled in one direction for a period of time and then repelled and sent back the way it has come.

A logical consequence of Pandey's hypothesis is that an advanced enough civilisation could, in theory, gain control of the speed of a galaxy by moderating the output of its engine stars, and change its direction by shoaling charged particles around these stars, thereby creating a rudder effect that would exert a greater force than any external attractor. Effectively a galaxy would be transformed into a gigantic spaceship that could be piloted anywhere the universe. Pandey compares this theoretical odyssey to a ride on the dodgems at a fairground, implying that the journey would be relatively short and could only end in some kind of massive pile up.

In a light-hearted paper titled Dad, can I borrow the galaxy? a team from the Meerut Institute present some mind-boggling equations that calculate what the turning circle and braking distance of the Milky Way might be. The article concludes with some open speculation regarding the kind of driving test that one might be required to pass before being handed the keys to our star system.

Pandey admits that while his theory remains plausible it is unlikely that our species will ever develop to a point where we could make it a reality. However, he strongly advocates a program to identify the engine stars in our galaxy.

To understand the reasons why our universe is currently on a collision course with Andromeda (which after all is travelling in the same direction as we are) we need to examine the relative momentums of these star systems. The speed of a galaxy is determined by three factors: The base rate at which the universe is expanding, and the pull-rate of any external influences which, in our case, currently determine our direction of travel (these are the same for both Andromeda and the Milky Way). The wild card in the equation is determined by the output of a galaxy's engine stars. This fluctuates according to the phase that these stars are in.

The Milky Way had been accelerating for the past billion years or so. Andromeda, meanwhile, is (in the language of astrophysicists) “dawdling”. The most likely explanation for this lack of impetus is the collective dimming of the galaxy's engine stars; the result of a halo of junk elements that have accumulated around their chromosphere, leading to diminished output and slower speeds. As the layer of debris continues to build-up on the stars' surface, their gravity field diminishes. Eventually a given star's gravity will become so weak that solar winds are able to blow the detritus away, at which point the star will begin to regain its former luminescence. This process is known as 'moulting'.

As galaxies move through the universe they create a wake, similar to that made by a boat passing through water. This cosmic wash is composed of elemental gas along with some solid elements and compounds. Occasionally these will form themselves into small, short-lived epiphyte galaxies which are pulled along in their parent's slipstream before eventually being torn apart by the same forces that allowed them to form.

NASA recordings of this cosmic wash sound uncommonly like improvised piano jazz. In 2006, professors at MIT released some of these recordings, claiming that they were the work of an unknown Jazz musician called Tycho Newton. Despite dropping some fairly heavy hints as to the true origins of the music, and despite the elusive Mr Newton never appearing in public, they were able to maintain their ruse for three albums, the second of which - 'Star Child' - was nominated for a Grammy in the Best Instrumental Jazz Album category.

1 UCT is not an objective reality. Rather it is a model that is used to enhance our understanding of the motion of large objects through spacetime. As Ken Collins from NASA puts it: “We need to take it seriously, while at the same time not taking it seriously.” If you have three large whiteboards and a spare afternoon, Ken will happily reproduce for you the lengthy equations that demonstrate this contradictory standpoint.