Sol our star is located well out of the way of the center of the galaxy, a rural location so to speak. We are 26,000 light years from the galaxy center so communicating with any intelligent life located closer to the center is improbable. What would it be like if we evolved closer to the core? This screenshot from the game I play shows an earthlike planet a couple of hundred light years from the core. Think of how bright the night sky would be if we were located there. The game, Elite Dangerous, is a real time galaxy simulation. The entire galaxy moves, all 400 billion stars, right down to the planets orbiting and rotating around their star. There are hundreds of stars within 2 light years and a thousand within 10 light years. Certainly would raise the chances of communication if there are intelligent beings living out there.
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We'd be fucked if we were closer to the center of the galaxy. It's way to crowded to provide the stability necessary - just the impacts alone would reset evolution to frequently for extremely complex multicellular creatures to develope.
1of5
Level 8
June 2, 2019
1
Hard to say, certainly more stars but crowded, not sure really. We run the chance of being hit by a big rock as much as any body in any system. Most bodies tend to stay with their systems but the possibility is maybe greater there. Voyager 1 launched in 1989 has traveled close to 12 billion miles. One light year is 5.8 trillion miles. Even if the closest star is one light year, that distance is great.
1of5:
@Mark013 there would be close enough encounters with other stars to disturb the orbits in the ort cloud, increasing the number of rocks flying about the inner solar system. Its also possible that our planets orbits would be different due to gravitational interference, either closer or farther away from the sun, and/or more highly eliptical.
Then there's those pesky novas being close enough to sterilize the whole planet. Be a cool show, but that's about it.
When I was first in college, I had a roommate into then what was new, role playing games (particularly D&D, the original TSR version - only out for 3 years at that time). As a result we played lots of games including a galaxy space travel game that we converted into a campaign game that went on for over a year.
t1nick
Level 8
June 2, 2019
1
well, plus we're talking about a HUGE expanse of time and we're only viewing efforts within a window of a few decades?? that makes the possible intersection of our efforts and their availability have a rather tiny probability. infinitesimally small. I mean, a period of 40 years out of 14 billion? And then consider the tiny swath of space our efforts would reach compared to the vastness of space in total where life would exist at the intersection of time where our efforts would be simultaneous with their availability??!!?? I mean, at that point the odds are beyond astronomical that we will ever get a message to another civilization and hear a response. we have a much better shot of just waiting for them to contact us.
JeffMesser
Level 8
June 2, 2019
1
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