Niven42

Niven42 t1_j6gb84p wrote

The Sun's absolute magnitude (how bright it would appear at a distance of 10 parsecs), is about +4.83, which means that out to around 30 light years, it appears as a fifth magnitude star or brighter. Although there are many factors to how bright stars appear while observing from Earth, the classic constellations were limited to around fifth magnitude, or brighter (magnitude is an inverse scale; smaller numbers are brighter). So, for at least all systems out to around 10-12 parsecs, the Sun is bright enough to be included in their constellations (if they used the same criteria as our ancients did when creating star groupings).

Here is a chart of around 130 star systems where the Sun would be likely to appear as a significant constellation star.

http://www.icc.dur.ac.uk/~tt/Lectures/Galaxies/LocalGroup/Back/50lys.html

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Niven42 t1_j54mfl1 wrote

Reply to What if? by [deleted]

Common sense should be telling you - we're not being visited by extraterrestrials.

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Niven42 t1_it6v057 wrote

Also, the principle of Emergent Behavior. In any complex system, once that system reaches a critical point, then simple, unrelated steps in the process can combine to create an unexpected outcome, usually not predicted from the relatively unsophisticated inputs. I.e. beavers gnaw trees while eating, trees fall, piles of fallen branches create shelter from predators, populations that survive pass tree gnawing habits to the next generation, etc.

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