For most, the vastness and distances to these exoplanets are unfathomable. 3 hundred light years? That's not bad, right? That's only 4 generations of humans and if we can master stasis.... THAT'S AT LIGHT SPEED! Not gonna happen.
I had an interesting dialogue with a friend about this recently. It is estimated, that our closest neighboring "star system", Alpha Centauri, is about 4 light years away. If we developed technology that increased our speed in space by 10X (average over distance), we might be able to get to Alpha Centauri in about 13,500 years. Even if we found a way to make equipment and fuel last that long and successfully mastered effective stasis, we would likely miss the star system all together. It will have moved by the time we get there. The calculations for a perfect shot also become unfathomable simply because nothing in the universe is still. There is no benchmark, and the lag in time makes the relative position of every object in space an estimate.
Ok, so what of communication. Radio waves are ineffective at the vast distances we are seeking. The wavelengths grow over distances and a signal received would be so distorted it would likely be indistinguishable from the natural static found in the universe. So we use high intensity light and lasers? We still have the same problem to a lesser degree but now we have to hit a moving target in a focused attempt.
Let's say we wanted to send a message to Kepler-1649c (only 300 light years away). And let's say in another 100 years we can produce a laser with an encoded message that had the strength to be received 300 light years from when it was sent. Two problems still exist.
1) We have to lead the star system by 300 years (think in 3 dimensions, 4 if you include time). We'll never know if the shot was accurate.
2) If we are able to hit the star system, the planet is only a small, moving part of the star system and would only collect a tiny fraction of the transmitted light. Any refraction or diffraction of the laser signal could be distorted and again, any perceivable light received would likely be lost in the incoming static of space.
Assuming intelligent life on the planet did recognize our signal as intelligent life. That would likely indicate they were more advanced than us. That's a good thing, right? (Debate Philosophy here, lol)
Next, to verify our success, they would have to find where the signal came from, 300 earth years prior. Then they would have to use whatever technology they have to return a signal. 600 years or so after we sent our greeting, we would have to recognize their response. Then we could plan our visit? At an inconceivable speed (for which technology does not exist) we might be able to make the trip in a short 50,000 to 100,000 years. And at that speed, a vessel could expect to disintegrate should it encounter a random small pocket of gas in transit. We are already well into the realm of what we consider science fiction by today's standards.
Will humans ever migrate into space and inhabit exoplanets in the universe? I guess maybe in the next million years or so. Will we ever meet intelligent alien life? Not likely. Does intelligent extraterrestrial exist in the universe? Most likely. In fact, there well may have already been intelligent life out there that has come and become extinct. There may also be "intelligent life" that is just now evolving. But our star, the Sun, also has an expiration date. So even our opportunity in space and time is limited. It's good to look and is our human nature. But ultimately, is our expectation and hopes a bit ambitious?
So when are the Hollyweirdos going back home?
Isn’t “Alien Planet” redundant unless somebody knows that actual Aliens live there?
Is it locked down yet?
So first we have to be able to travel at the speed of light, and then it would only take 300 years to get there.
You can bet the farm on this. This is not an Earth-like planet. Red dwarfs are flare stars. If there was life on that planet, most likely it would have gotten wiped out several times by now. Also, that planet is so close to the star that they will be incredible tidal forces. So much for an ocean.
I wonder what the energetic particle flux is like coming out of a red dwarf?
Gives me something to research while I am stuck a home.
Just not gonna happen unless we develop some sort of warp speed. It does exist as a theory, does it not?
In other words, if President Thomas Jefferson had invented a light-speed capable spaceship and launched it at the same time Lewis and Clark embarked on their voyage of discovery, the space ship would now be a little over 2/3 of the way to their destination.
Don't forget time dilation. If the astronauts travel fast enough, they can traverse that distance in what appears to them to be an instant, but would still appear to be hundreds of years on earth.
If you could accelerate at a constant one-g, you could reach 99.9% of the speed of light in about a year. Time dilation would mean that compared to clocks on earth, time would pass much more slowly for our astronauts. The entire 600 year round trip would occur in "only" 27 years of their lives. They would come back to an earth that was much, much different than the one they left.
Kepler-1649c? As long as it isn’t LV-426.
“The exoplanet, Kepler-1649c, circles a red dwarf star that lies 300 light-years from Earth,”
Pay tell, 300 lite yrs away...WHAT difference does this “find” make to us ??....IOW...WHO CARES !!!
You make the mistake of assuming we know everything there is to know about physics.
FTL travel is theoretically and mathematically possible- we just have not yet figured out how to do it.
Listen to Bob Lazar. He describes the alien spacecraft gravity propulsion systems in quite a lot of detail.
And what if we get there and it’s populated by Reptillians who welcome the arrival of fresh food?
I thought the the latest emerging ion drive technology could zip us along at about 1/3 the speed of light.
aka ‘Class M’
Such planet orbiting a red dwarf will be tidally locked and a be a very unpleasant place.
A 300 year trip, traveling at the speed of light. We might not be around to explore it!
Geez... we just need Cochran to create warp drive.
Traveling through normal space is futile past our neighborhood.
It's not written in stone the opportunity to discover life rest solely on people from earth. We could be contacted or "discovered" by alien life tomorrow. And that might have already occurred in the past.