A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launched 24 Starlink internet satellites into low Earth orbit after lifting off from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California on Aug. 14, 2025.
Astronomers are confident that the Milky Way and Andromeda galaxies will collide, merge, or at least interact with one another in the next few billion years. What will that merger look like? Both galaxies have dwarf galaxies, and astronomers want to know if their behaviour can predict the future of the merger.

