"Stellar Exchange: Andromeda and the Milky Way"

A recent study suggests that the Andromeda and Milky Way galaxies may already be exchanging stars, with hypervelocity stars (HVSs) potentially migrating from Andromeda to the Milky Way. These HVSs, among the fastest objects in the Galaxy, are believed to be ejected due to gravitational interactions between binary stars and black holes. The study calculated the trajectories of 18 million HVSs and found that a small percentage are now within a radius of 50kpc around the Milky Way center. The team's simulations suggest that it is highly likely for HVSs from Andromeda to migrate to the Milky Way, and further studies are needed to detect them based on stellar velocity and trajectories.