We often think of the universe as being dauntingly large, so much so that traveling to the nearest
star system, currently Proxima Centauri, seems only just within theoretical reach and even
then, it will take many years to accomplish getting there.
As a result, the idea of actually colonizing worlds that orbit other stars seems far in
the future, so far that we can only really dream about it right now.
And when we look into the universe itself for others that may have colonized multiple
star systems, we have yet to see any evidence of them.
That should not be discouraging though, that may simply be because civilizations are hard
to spot and we may yet find ones that have colonized as our equipment gets more powerful.
But one thing that I think often gets neglected in the debate over interstellar colonization
is that stars independently move through the galaxy and surprisingly often they pass close
enough to us that colonization of any worlds they may harbor could be far easier than colonizing
distant stars and planets.
It's more a matter of just patiently waiting for a wandering star to pass by, though I
personally also encourage proactively branching out.
It may seem like a very long wait to sit around hoping for a star to pass by, but it makes
sense to view things in perspective.
The status quo of distances between other stars and the sun was very different only
just 70,000 years ago.
Before I begin, this story illustrates well how dynamic and interesting astronomy can
be, especially these days with our ever improving equipment and understanding of the universe.
We did not know until recently that this past encounter between the sun and another star
system even happened, and even the star system itself that passed close by was only discovered
in 2013.
The star is called Scholz's star, after its discoverer, astronomer Ralf-Dieter Scholz.
In a 2015 paper by Eric Mamajek and colleagues, links to all mentioned papers in the description
below, they report that Scholz's star passed so close to our sun 70,000 years ago that
it entered the outer Oort cloud.
Now, that time frame is interesting because we were here back then.
We didn't have recorded history yet, nor were we probably doing much other than focusing
on raw survival, but homo sapiens was here at a time when another star system was passing
less than a light-year away.
We may well be here still the next time this sort of thing happens, see my video on this
channel about Gliese 710, a star that will pass within the Oort cloud a bit over a million
years from now.
But it may happen sooner.
There is also now another star known that may pass even closer than either Gliese 710,
or Scholz's star.
This third star is known as HIP 85605.
This star may be either an M type dwarf or a K type main sequence star, and is currently
at a distance, though this is really uncertain, of about 18-28 light-years.
Actually, everything is uncertain with this star, but in 2014 it was advanced in a paper
by C.A.L.
Bailer-Jones, link below, that HIP 85605 could pass within .13 to .65 light-years from the
sun sometime between a quarter and a half million years from now.
That would be extremely close, and would be far deeper in the Oort cloud than the other
known future encounters will penetrate, but again, the distances involved and size of
this star are not yet well understood and subject to significant future revision.
But that wasn't all, Bailer-Jones also noted that many more known stars will pass close
to the sun, and in the past many have, the number being about 40 have come or will come
within 6.4 light years 20 million years in the past or future.
In fact, the star Gamma Microscopii passed within 6 light years of the sun about 3.8
million years ago and would have outshown the current brightest star in the sky significantly.
And this star is no pedestrian dwarf type star, this was a G-type giant star.
That's disconcerting, the idea that large stars can pass close by.
The paper notes that if the wrong kind of star happens to pass us in the future, it
could bathe the earth in deadly ultraviolet light, and if it happened to go supernova
while close enough, well, let's just say that perturbed comets would be the least of our
worries.
Thankfully, nothing like that appears on the slate any time soon, but there may also be
other such stars that are yet to be discovered that may pass close by even sooner than HIP
85605, some estimates say that a star should pass through the Oort cloud about every hundred
thousand years on average, and one coming as close to us as Scholz's star did, should
happen about every nine million years on average.
Scholz's star is in actuality a double star system, there seems to be a red dwarf primary
star and a brown dwarf secondary star.
And early humans wouldn't have known this star was passing by, even as close as it was,
it would have been too dim for the naked eye to see, though it might have been occasionally
visible due to short term flares.
It's even dimmer now at a distance of about 20 light-years.
And, in so far as we know, it doesn't have any planets, so we probably didn't miss much
with that one as far as colonizing it goes.
But the passage does beg an ominous question, did it sufficiently disturb the Oort cloud
enough to send a hail of comets our way?
The models say probably not, and even if it did, the resultant comets won't get here for
about another 2 million years.
If we're still here after another two million years of technological development, we likely
will have intercepted those and melted them down for raw materials.
But in the end, a star with planets passing that close to the sun in the future may offer
the human race, and this is far future speculation, an opportunity to colonize another star system
by virtue of it passing by us rather than us going to it.
But that colonization would be sad, as our colony would recede from us after the encounter,
growing ever more distant until eventually meaningful communications would be lost.
Thanks for listening!
I am science fiction author and futurist John Michael Godier and as a note to the viewers
asking about a KIC 8462852 update, I don't yet have enough solid material to make a video,
but I can say that the star continues to dip and remain active.
More on that story in the not-too-distant future and be sure to check out my books at
your favorite online book retailer and subscribe to my channel for regular, in-depth explorations
into the interesting, weird and unknown aspects of this amazing universe in which we live.
For more infomation >> RPG Maker Fes - Trailer de Lançamento | 3DS - Duration: 0:50. 
For more infomation >> Sistema Seminari de construção de Empreendimentos - Duration: 2:41. 
For more infomation >> COMO JOGAR MAGIC THE GATHERING - Conheça os formatos de jogo no MTG - Ep.4 #MTGHOU - Duration: 3:15. 
For more infomation >> Um pouco de Fáscia por Alexander Bohlander - Duration: 3:45. 
For more infomation >> Aconteceu na JFSP - maio de 2017 - Duration: 4:11. 
For more infomation >> Jaguar F-Pace 2.0D R-Sport AWD Automaat Navi/Camara/Panoramadak/Keyless/Headup/20inch - Duration: 0:57. 
For more infomation >> Renault Captur TCE 90pk Dynamique (CAMERA!!!/R-link/Cliamte/Cruise/PDC/17''LMV) - Duration: 0:54. 
For more infomation >> 奇抜さ日本一！なデザートビュッフェ「ハワイアン・パラダイス」開催 フォトジェニックなスイーツが派手可愛い|トラベルニュース - Duration: 5:28. 
For more infomation >> Chicago way -- Ban critics who don't like black victimization. Steve Wonder next? - Duration: 11:19. 
For more infomation >> American Dad - Roger Won't Admit - Duration: 5:21. 
For more infomation >> Conor Vs Floyd Won't Be As Lopsided as You Think, But Floyd Will Figure Out Conor - Duration: 5:39. 
For more infomation >> WOLF 06/27: 5 SENATORS WON'T SUPPORT VOTE ON BILL THIS WEEK - Duration: 48:00. 
For more infomation >> Twinkled T Nail Stamping Polishes & More Nail Art Products - Duration: 10:56. 
For more infomation >> My Powers Went Out - Don't Let This Happen to You - Duration: 11:10. 
For more infomation >> Que se Passe-t-il si On Paye pas la Caution de la Police ? - Duration: 12:01. 
For more infomation >> Undercover Investigation: CNN Producer Admits Network Hyping 'Mostly Bullsh*t' Trump-Russia News - Duration: 1:57. 
No comments:
Post a Comment