Astronomers reported Monday that the probability of the two spiral galaxies colliding is less than previously thought, with a 50-50 chance within the next 10 billion years. That’s essentially a coin flip, but still better odds than previous estimates and farther out in time.

A collision between our Milky Way galaxy and the neighboring Andromeda galaxy, long considered inevitable, may be in question, astronomers say.

"The fact that there is only around a 50-50 chance of a merger was very surprising."