By 
October 26th, 2022
The late Frank Drake with cosmic equation to gauge the presence of intelligent life in the cosmos. The Drake Equation identifies specific factors believed to play a role in the development of civilizations in our galaxy.
Credit: SETI Institute
A look into interstellar expansion through the framework of the Drake equation suggests that a “low-mass Galactic Club” remains a possibility for our galaxy.
Researchers have tackled a key question: If the galaxy is teeming with intelligent life, then where is everybody? It’s a question often described as the Fermi paradox, one that was asked by nuclear physicist Enrico Fermi.
The Fermi paradox typically assumes that expansion would proceed uniformly through the galaxy, but not all stellar types may be equally useful for a long-lived civilization.
Source: NASA Exoplanet and Exploration Program
Pondering this paradox is a new research paper – “Galactic settlement of low-mass stars as a resolution to the Fermi paradox” – authored by Jacob Haqq-Misral of Blue Marble Space Institute of Science and Thomas J. Fauchez of American University.
Migration locations
“We suggest that low-mass stars, and K-dwarf stars in particular, would be ideal migration locations for civilizations that originate in a G-dwarf system,” the study team explains. “The search for technosignatures in exoplanetary systems can help to place constraints on the presence of such a ‘low-mass Galactic Club’ in the galaxy today.”
Such a low-mass Galactic Club, originating from a parent G-dwarf system, the researchers note, would have had plenty of time to develop in the history of the galaxy without us taking any notice of its activities.
Extraterrestrial sociology
Haqq-Misral and Fauchez point out that there’s need to grapple with the unknown characteristics of extraterrestrial sociology. “We do not know if extraterrestrial civilization exists, and if it does, we have no knowledge of their motives.”
While it is possible that long-lived technological civilizations do not expand, it also remains possible that such civilizations pursue galactic settlement in order to ensure their longevity, they suggest. An expanding civilization will preferentially settle on low-mass K- or M-dwarf systems, avoiding higher-mass stars, in order to maximize their longevity in the galaxy, the study team adds.
Credit: ESA/Hubble and NASA, CC BY
“Extraterrestrial expansion through the galaxy remains viable. We can exclude scenarios in which all G-dwarf stars would have been settled by now, but the possibility remains open that a Galactic Club exists across all K-dwarf or M-dwarf stars,” the researchers state. “The search for technosignatures in low-mass systems provides one way to constrain the presence of such a Galactic Club.”
Ideal targets
On one hand, K-dwarf systems may be ideal targets to search for biosignatures and technosignatures, however, such planets can be difficult to detect.
“Further research into understanding the breadth of possibilities for detecting extraterrestrial technology will become increasingly important as observing facilities become more adept at characterizing terrestrial planets in low-mass exoplanetary systems,” they conclude.
To read the full paper – “Galactic settlement of low-mass stars as a resolution to the Fermi paradox” – go to:
Posted in Space News
