The Interstellar Search for Goldilocks

[ysabetwordsmith]

... and we are NOT IN IT.  Nope, yellow G-type stars like Sol are probably not the most life-friendly real estate in the galaxy.  That would be orange K-type stars.

ROTFLMAO!!!

Folks, life is the most creative thing in existence.  Allow me to present a terrifying example of its ability to survive murderous conditions.

So do not limit your search to things you already know or what you think is "ideal."  Look everywhere, because you never know where you'll find it, and it's better not to step in it unawares in case it decides to eat your leg off, or even your unmanned probe.  And a sample of one is not a statistic.

Comments

[kengr]

The "generation" of stars makes a difference too.

First generation stars around 15 billion years ago. They (and their planetary systems) consist of *only* hydrogen and some helium. Chances of life are pretty slim. :-)

Second generation stars formed around 10 billion years ago from areas "seeded" by first generation stars that have gone supernova. So they have heavier elements up to iron (which will be fairly rare).

Life might evolve but it'd be *very* different from life here because of the difference in elemental abundances. Earth would be an environment full of toxic "heavy" metals to those life forms.

Also, if intelligent life evolved, it's had a 5 billion year head start on us. If they are still around, we'd likely be of little interest to them.

Third generation stars (like Sol) are only 5 billion or so years old. They formed from areas seeded by second generation supernovas. They've got elements up to uranium. Iron is not uncommon.

Sol is one of the older third generation stars in the neighborhood. So *we* may be the "older and wiser" civilization. Eep!

The distribution of the various generations in the galaxy affects a lot of things too. The central are of the galaxy is first generation stars. so besides the radiation hazards, the elements for life aren't there.

Other areas of the galaxy are mostly first generation stars as well. This will greatly affect where "desirable" real estate will be found.

ps. I recall *one* SF novel that used this sort of thing. It had a few remaining aliens from second generation stars trying to keep us youngsters from making *serious* mistakes (and not doing so well :-)

Thoughts

[ysabetwordsmith]

>>The "generation" of stars makes a difference too.<<

True.

>>Life might evolve but it'd be *very* different from life here because of the difference in elemental abundances. Earth would be an environment full of toxic "heavy" metals to those life forms.<<

Well, the most important elements are there. I think a bigger difference would be the scarcity of "rocky" planets, unless those somehow formed later from debris floating in. So a likely configuration would be aerial biospheres in gas giant planets. Hmm, add latterborn rocky moons to the possible locales. Gas giants are very sticky with regard to floating debris.

And now I am imagining what mayhem could be caused by a rocky moon arriving in an already inhabited gas-dominated system. It'd be like Thundarr the Barbarian in reverse!

>>Also, if intelligent life evolved, it's had a 5 billion year head start on us. If they are still around, we'd likely be of little interest to them.<<

That presupposes a contiguous evolution. Given Earth's history of multiple mass extinctions, this seems unlikely -- although the odds may improve if a species succeeds in spreading over multiple planets.

Of course, earlier generation systems would have very different dynamics. Less chance of getting smacked by a space rock, but possibly other threats that we just haven't seen here.

>> Sol is one of the older third generation stars in the neighborhood. So *we* may be the "older and wiser" civilization. Eep! <<

0_o

>>The distribution of the various generations in the galaxy affects a lot of things too. The central are of the galaxy is first generation stars. so besides the radiation hazards, the elements for life aren't there.<<

Weren't there originally. Do we know for sure that nothing of the sort has drifted in? Other stars have been popping for billions of years, scattering dust everywhere, not to mention drifting rocks.

>> ps. I recall *one* SF novel that used this sort of thing. It had a few remaining aliens from second generation stars trying to keep us youngsters from making *serious* mistakes (and not doing so well :-) <<

I've seen a few stories that deal with galactic real estate in various ways. Babylon 5 had the senior species migrating beyond the galactic rim, which was a good thing since they seemed to be largely assholes.