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They just found the Second Horizon

Posted: Thu 25 Aug 2016, 00:46
by Nils

Re: They just found the Second Horizon

Posted: Thu 25 Aug 2016, 09:22
by Alphast
This is pretty awesome. Although, wouldn't that be the First Horizon (Sol and surrounding stellar systems?), if I understood the setting correctly?

Re: They just found the Second Horizon

Posted: Thu 25 Aug 2016, 11:46
by Vainamoinen
This is pretty awesome. Although, wouldn't that be the First Horizon (Sol and surrounding stellar systems?), if I understood the setting correctly?
Well, yes, strictly speaking. It's stil awesome – of course, even if they actually find water during the next decades, it's unlikely we'll be alive to witness an expedition launched to a planet four light years away. 8-)

Re: They just found the Second Horizon

Posted: Thu 25 Aug 2016, 12:50
by Alphast
Best case scenario we are talking 8000 years with our best technology to reach it? More or less, no?

Re: They just found the Second Horizon

Posted: Thu 25 Aug 2016, 13:58
by Vainamoinen
Best case scenario we are talking 8000 years with our best technology to reach it? More or less, no?
Our technology will become better, but we don't even have 1000 or 500 years left. Humanity won't make it through the next 200 if temperature/UV ray rise aren't stopped (effectively stopped and reversed, not "slowed down"). And just so I don't delve too much into the political here, I'll also say that we're looking at more of a Mutant Year Zero future, not a Coriolis one. :P

Re: They just found the Second Horizon

Posted: Thu 25 Aug 2016, 16:11
by Umberto Octo
There's also this article about the recent discovery of a "cavity" around a supernova.
One of my father-in-law's many geeky pursuits is astrophotography; he has an enviable telescope array that captures numerous deep space phenomena. And he's recently been watching this one.

Re: They just found the Second Horizon

Posted: Thu 25 Aug 2016, 18:25
by Nils
It probably should be the First Horizon yes  :)

Re: They just found the Second Horizon

Posted: Fri 26 Aug 2016, 23:35
by Zapp
Best case scenario we are talking 8000 years with our best technology to reach it? More or less, no?
"Travelling at 20% of the speed of light, they would take about 20 years to [reach] Proxima Centauri."
http://www.nature.com/news/billionaire- ... em-1.19750

Other than that, let's hope we find the Builders' toys sooner rather than later, shall we? :P

Re: They just found the Second Horizon

Posted: Sun 28 Aug 2016, 04:39
by Umberto Octo

Re: They just found the Second Horizon

Posted: Mon 05 Sep 2016, 11:28
by Alphast
"Travelling at 20% of the speed of light, they would take about 20 years to [reach] Proxima Centauri."
http://www.nature.com/news/billionaire- ... em-1.19750

Other than that, let's hope we find the Builders' toys sooner rather than later, shall we? :P
Except that we don't have the technology for 20% of the speed of light and survive the deceleration yet. Nano probes are not even our level of tech, since the lasers needed to propel these haven't been developed (although I agree that they're probably not anything undo-able). So yes, we might be able to send unmanned drones to Proxima Centauri within 50 years and get the data back. Sending humans there is a whole other can of worms, pun totally intended.