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At the speed of light, they could have only gone 15 light years. Certainly not to Andromeda.
By the time they started to return from their deep space explorations,from their perspectives,perhaps 20 or 30 years passed by for them inside their flying saucer spaceships...
Information on the Nearest Stars
Sun - Type=G2, Magnitude=-26.8, Distance=0.0000158 ly
A typical yellow dwarf star. It has eight planets orbiting it.
Proxima Centauri - Type=M5, Magnitude=11.0, Distance=4.22 ly
This dim red dwarf is the nearest star to the Sun, and it is a member of the Alpha Centauri system despite lying 0.24 light years from the main pair of stars, requiring over one million years to orbit them. Proxima was discovered in 1915 by Robert Innes and was at that time the least luminous star known. It is also a flare star - capable of brightening a magnitude or more in minutes.
Alpha Centauri A,B - Type=G2+K0, Magnitudes=0.0+1.4, Distance=4.39 ly
Just slightly further from us than Proxima, lie the orange and yellow dwarf stars that make up Alpha Centauri. Orbiting each other in an 80 year period, together they make up one of the brightest objects in southern hemisphere skies. Seen from Alpha Centauri, the third member of the system, Proxima, is a dim (magnitude 4.8) star.
Barnard's Star - Type=M5, Magnitude=9.6, Distance=5.94 ly
Famous for having the largest proper motion of any star, this dim red dwarf travels 0.29 degrees against the background sky in a century. Discovered by E Barnard in 1916, it was thought in the 1960's to have a couple of unseen planets orbiting it, but later observations disproved this. In another 8000 years Barnard's Star will become the closest star to us.
Wolf 359 - Type=M6, Magnitude=13.5, Distance=7.80 ly
An excessively dim red dwarf discovered by Max Wolf in 1918. For 25 years it was the least luminous star known.
Lalande 21185 - Type=M2, Magnitude=7.5, Distance=8.31 ly
Recorded in JJ Lalande's star catalogue compiled in the 1790's, this is one of the brightest red dwarfs in the sky, but it still needs binoculars to see it. G Gatewood reported in 1996 the possible indications of a couple of Jupiter sized planets orbiting it but this remains unconfirmed.
Sirius A,B - Type=A1+DA, Magnitudes=-1.4+8.4, Distance=8.60 ly
This brilliant white star is the brightest star in the night sky and the most luminous star within 25 light years. Its white dwarf companion was first seen in 1852, the first white dwarf ever seen. The orbital period is 50 years.
Luyten 726-8 A,B - Type=M5+M5, Magnitudes=12.4+13.3, Distance=8.73 ly
This is a dim binary system consisting of two red dwarfs. The system is perhaps more famously known as UV Ceti, the variable-star name of the second star in the system. It is a famous flare star and can visibly brighten by several magnitudes as it ejects flares from its surface similar to the ones seen on the surface of the Sun, but far more energetic. Both stars require about 200 years to orbit each other.
Ross 154 - Type=M4, Magnitude=10.4, Distance=9.69 ly
A dim red dwarf. It is one of a number of nearby stars catalogued by Frank Ross in the 1930's. It is also a known flare star.
Ross 248 - Type=M6, Magnitude=12.3, Distance=10.33 ly
Another dim red dwarf.
Epsilon Eridani - Type=K2, Magnitude=3.7, Distance=10.50 ly
An orange dwarf star. This star was searched for signs of intelligent life with the Green Bank radio telescope in 1960. The results, predictably, were negative. The IRAS satellite detected a lot of dust orbiting this star indicating a possible forming solar system, and even more recently, (Aug 2000), a Jupiter sized planet has been detected orbiting this star at a distance of 3.2 AU (480 million km).
Lacaille 9352 - Type=M2, Magnitude=7.4, Distance=10.73 ly
A fairly bright red dwarf which can easily be seen with binoculars, it was first recorded in Nicolas de Lacaille's catalogue of southern hemisphere stars compiled around 1752.
Ross 128 - Type=M4, Magnitude=11.1, Distance=10.89 ly
A dim red dwarf, also known as FI Vir - its variable star designation.
Luyten 789-6 A,B,C - Type=M5+M5+M7, Magnitudes=13.3+13.3+14.0, Distance=11.1 ly
There seems to be three red dwarfs in this system. The main pair orbiting each other in a 2 year period, and a dim third star orbiting the first at a very close range.
Procyon A,B - Type=F5+DA, Magnitudes=0.4+10.7, Distance=11.41 ly
A brilliant yellow-white star, and the eighth brightest star in the sky. With twice the diameter of the Sun, Procyon is also the largest star within 25 light years. Procyon is orbited by a white dwarf companion first seen optically in 1896. The orbital period is 41 years.
61 Cygni A,B - Type=K5+K7, Magnitudes=5.2+6.1, Distance=11.41 ly
This binary system of two orange dwarf stars is famous for being the first star ever to have its distance measured by F Bessel in 1838. Both stars are very similar but are widely separated (86 AU) requiring about
Originally posted by blocula
Lets imagine two people named Mike and Mary who are both 30 years old...
Mike and Mary synchronize their watches...
Mary takes off in a space ship and travels near the speed of light,which is an incredible 670,616,629 miles an hour...
While Mike stays on earth...
Lets say that Mary travels in her space ship at that speed for 70 years...
Lets say that Mike continues living on earth for 70 years...
Now for both Mike and Mary,time will seem to be passing by at the same rate...
Because time is relative to someones perspective...
Mike will perceive 70 years passing by normally for him on earth...
Mary will perceive 70 years passing by normally for her inside her spaceship...
But when Mary returns,the incredible and amazing effects of time dilation will be revealed...
Because in reality,what Mike perceived as 70 years going by and what Mary perceived as 70 years going by,will be very different...
Mary will be 100 years old when she returns to earth...
Mike will be long gone,even though he died when he was 100 years old,he died many thousands of years earlier...
Originally posted by blocula
reply to post by Dynamike
A class-3 civilization would be able to harvest suns and position them near the event horizons of super massive black holes and channel the energy their interaction would pruduce,among all sorts of other fantastic technological creations and psychological prowess that would dwarf our greatest achievements,making our abilities seem very insignificant and virtually meaningless in comparison ...
And even though humanity has gone from relying upon horse drawn wagons and carriages in 1900,to using nuclear powered aircraft carriers in 1961,in just 60 years,we are still not even a class-1 civilization yet...
Class-2 and class-3 civilizations very well may have arisen and fallen within the distant past on earth,long before humans arrived...
One example of that happening,of them existing in the past on earth is staring us all in the face,its right in front of us hiding in plain sight,the great pyramid...edit on 18-2-2012 by blocula because: (no reason given)
And even though humanity has gone from relying upon horse drawn wagons and carriages in 1900,to using nuclear powered aircraft carriers in 1961,in just 60 years,we are still not even a class-1 civilization yet...
Originally posted by blocula
reply to post by 31Bravo
If this is true, imagine their surprise and horror upon returning here to earth, then quickly finding out that their civilizations they left behind, their mothers and fathers, their brothers, sisters and children, are all dead and gone,went extinct long ago and another species has since arisen and taken over their world...Humans...Wow...
edit on 17-2-2012 by blocula because: (no reason given)