Our Sun Simply Does Not Meet Extraterrestrial Criteria.
Believers in the Drake Equation may have found a fitting explanation for why extraterrestrial civilizations have yet to be discovered by humanity. A recently published study by a group of researchers in the United States asserts that extraterrestrial civilizations tend to seek specific types of stars when establishing a galactic base.
In simple terms, our Sun simply does not meet the criteria of extraterrestrial beings.
The Sun is not a suitable location for extraterrestrials to choose as a base.
In 1950, Enrico Fermi and Michael Hart pointed out a flaw in the Drake Equation, which estimates the number of civilizations in our galaxy. While the Drake Equation presents a high probability for the existence of advanced extraterrestrial civilizations, Fermi and Hart questioned why we have not yet detected any of these civilizations. This is known as the Fermi Paradox.
Several years after the Drake Equation was published, Hart released a detailed study to further analyze the Fermi Paradox. Hart claimed that extraterrestrial civilizations could rapidly expand their empires by sending spacecraft to the 100 nearest stars. This process would be repeated continuously, allowing these civilizations to spread throughout the galaxy in a short period.
According to Hart’s calculations, an advanced extraterrestrial civilization could make contact with humanity right now. However, since we have not had any contact, Hart concluded that no extraterrestrial civilization exists out there. Consequently, missions like The Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI) are deemed meaningless.
The American astrophysicist further stated that if there were any efforts to invade our Solar System, it might very well be our descendants.
In a study accepted and published by the Astrophysical Journal, Jacob Haqq-Misra and Thomas Fauchez from the Blue Marble Space Institute and American University, respectively, pointed out flaws in the Fermi Paradox itself.
The authors argue that since not all stars in the galaxy are alike, extraterrestrial civilizations may be somewhat… “picky” in choosing suitable locations for establishing colonies in space. A study in 2021 confirmed that long-lived civilizations would prefer K-dwarf and M-type stars with low mass to maximize their lifespan in the galaxy.
Types of stars in the universe.
Both K and M dwarf stars are long-lived compared to a yellow dwarf star like our Sun. While this may not matter much to humanity, the authors suggest that extraterrestrial civilizations capable of colonizing solar systems would certainly consider this when making their decisions.
Even disregarding the advanced developmental stage of a civilization, an effort to colonize a solar system would still require a significant dedication of resources. An extraterrestrial civilization would not risk its resources on a star that is nearing the end of its life cycle or may “die” in a few million years.
According to researchers’ estimates, an advanced civilization could take about two billion years to reach all low-mass stars. There may be many civilizations currently attempting to do this in our galaxy, which we cannot dismiss simply because we have not yet discovered them. Programs like SETI could assist us in this endeavor to detect them.
In their lifetime, humanity may certainly not replicate their success, but that does not mean we should stop searching for signs of them.
