Closest star systems?

[tohaki]

I know that Alpha Centauri is around 4.4 lightyears away from us, but are star systems closer to eachother nearer the galactic centre?

 

[MeteorWayne]

Not only near the galactic center, but in globular clusters, where IIRC, the average distance between stars in less than a light year. I'll try and find a reference for that. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><font color="#000080"><em><font color="#000000">But the Krell forgot one thing John. Monsters. Monsters from the Id.</font></em> </font></p><p><font color="#000080">I really, really, really, really miss the "first unread post" function</font><font color="#000080"> </font></p> </div>

 

[tohaki]

<blockquote><font class="small">In reply to:</font><hr /><p>Not only near the galactic center, but in globular clusters, where IIRC, the average distance between stars in less than a light year. I'll try and find a reference for that.<p><hr /></p></p></blockquote>Thanks!<br /><br />In a way I suppose we were a bit unlucky with our position in the galaxy then.

 

[MeteorWayne]

Actually not. The data suggest that in such beehives of activity like a globular cluster, planets can't exist for long around a star since they are ripped away by interactions with the other stars.<br /><br />A planet with no sun means a planet with no life!<br /><br />So we wouldn't even exist to be unlucky.<br /><br />We're far enough away to exist, but close enough to be able to see a lot of other stars.<br /><br />That sounds lucky to me <img src="/images/icons/smile.gif" /> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><font color="#000080"><em><font color="#000000">But the Krell forgot one thing John. Monsters. Monsters from the Id.</font></em> </font></p><p><font color="#000080">I really, really, really, really miss the "first unread post" function</font><font color="#000080"> </font></p> </div>

 

[tohaki]

Ah, that makes sense...

 

[weeman]

Interesting information Eddie <img src="/images/icons/smile.gif" /><br /><br />I have heard that we exist in the galactic habitable zone. I believe it is an entire ring around the whole galaxy that is about 2/3 of the way out from the galactic center. Although it seems sad that other stars are so far away, and that we may never make it to other parts of the galaxy, feel fortunate that we exist within this area! <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p> </p><p><strong><font color="#ff0000">Techies: We do it in the dark. </font></strong></p><p><font color="#0000ff"><strong>"Put your hand on a stove for a minute and it seems like an hour. Sit with that special girl for an hour and it seems like a minute. That's relativity.</strong><strong>" -Albert Einstein </strong></font></p> </div>

 

[willpittenger]

Sorry, double submit.<br /><br />In addition to the afore mentioned gravitational and supernova/nova problems, you would encounter more radiation getting through the atmosphere. Furthermore, a large portion of our biosphere relies on nighttime and gravitational tides from the Moon. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <hr style="margin-top:0.5em;margin-bottom:0.5em" />Will Pittenger<hr style="margin-top:0.5em;margin-bottom:0.5em" />Add this user box to your Wikipedia User Page to show your support for the SDC forums: <div style="margin-left:1em">{{User:Will Pittenger/User Boxes/Space.com Account}}</div> </div>

 

[willpittenger]

In addition to the afore mentioned gravitational and supernova/nova problems, you would encounter more radiation getting through the atmosphere. Furthermore, a large portion of our biosphere relies on nighttime and gravitational tides from the Moon. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <hr style="margin-top:0.5em;margin-bottom:0.5em" />Will Pittenger<hr style="margin-top:0.5em;margin-bottom:0.5em" />Add this user box to your Wikipedia User Page to show your support for the SDC forums: <div style="margin-left:1em">{{User:Will Pittenger/User Boxes/Space.com Account}}</div> </div>

 

[willpittenger]

I should note that your ring might vary with the presence or lack thereof clusters. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <hr style="margin-top:0.5em;margin-bottom:0.5em" />Will Pittenger<hr style="margin-top:0.5em;margin-bottom:0.5em" />Add this user box to your Wikipedia User Page to show your support for the SDC forums: <div style="margin-left:1em">{{User:Will Pittenger/User Boxes/Space.com Account}}</div> </div>

 

[silylene old]

<p><BR/>Replying to:<BR/><DIV CLASS='Discussion_PostQuote'>Not only near the galactic center, but in globular clusters, where IIRC, the average distance between stars in less than a light year. I'll try and find a reference for that. <br />Posted by MeteorWayne</DIV></p><p>Interesting site has movies of a flight into a (simulated) globular cluster, and closely circling a globular cluster, and what it would look like in the sky if you were a planet at various points wihtin a globular cluster:</p><p>http://terpsichore.stsci.edu/~summers/viz/starsplatter/spz/spz.html</p> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature" align="center"><em><font color="#0000ff">- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -</font></em> </div><div class="Discussion_UserSignature" align="center"><font color="#0000ff"><em>I really, really, really miss the "first unread post" function.</em></font> </div> </div>

 

[crazyeddie]

<p><BR/>Replying to:<BR/><DIV CLASS='Discussion_PostQuote'>I know that Alpha Centauri is around 4.4 lightyears away from us, but are star systems closer to eachother nearer the galactic centre? <br /> Posted by tohaki</DIV></p><p>I found this interesting blurb:</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p><span style="font-family:Times;font-size:16px" class="Apple-style-span"><span style="font-style:italic" class="Apple-style-span">Because stars are so closely packed together near the galactic center, the night sky for inhabitants there would be spectacular. Near the galactic center, the average distance between neighboring stars would be only 1000 AU (about a light-week). If the Sun were located within a parsec of the galactic center, there would be a million stars in our sky with apparent brightness greater than Sirius. The total starlight in the night sky would be about 200 times greater than the light of the full moon; you could easily read the newspaper at midnight, relying on starlight alone.</span></span><span style="font-style:italic" class="Apple-style-span">&nbsp;</span></p><p>http://www.astronomy.ohio-state.edu/~ryden/ast162_7/notes31.html</p> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>