a group of people standing on top of a hill under a sky filled with stars

Nighttime Sky View of Future Galaxy Merger: 5.1 Billion Years Caption During the second close passage, the cores of the Milky Way and Andromeda appear as a pair of bright lobes. Star-forming nebulae are much less prominent because the interstellar gas and dust has been significantly decreased by previous bursts of star formation. Credits NASA, ESA, Z. Levay and R. van der Marel (STScI), T. Hallas, and A. Mellinger