According to scientists, globular star clusters are extraordinary places in our galaxy. They're holding a million stars in a ball only around 100 light-years across. They're not only densely packed but also old, dating back to the early stages of our Milky Way. According to new research, globular star clusters could also be good places to search for space-faring civilizations.
According to lead author Rosanne DiStefano of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, a globular cluster might be the best place to look for intelligent life in our galaxy. The research was presented at a meeting of the American Astronomical Society and first published by Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics.
DiStefano and her colleague Alak Ray argue that exoplanets have been found around stars only one-tenth as metal-rich as our Sun and that "such planets could also be found in globular clusters. Our galaxy contains around 150 globular clusters, formed on average about 10 billion years ago. A star's habitable zone varies depending on the star. Planets orbiting dimmer stars would have to be placed much closer in order to be life friendly. Since globular clusters are old, the main stars are faint, red dwarfs.
As reported by Phys.org, DiStefano explained that planets can survive for long once they form. That means the habitable planets can also form in globular clusters, where they can survive for billions of years. Life would have a long time to evolve and become very complex, therefore, it is possible to find intelligent life on planets located in globular star clusters. However, such an alien civilization would live in a different environment than our own.
Since the nearest star within a globular cluster could be just one trillion miles away, exploration and interstellar communication could be significantly easier. Sending a broadcast "wouldn't take any longer than a letter from the U.S. to Europe in the 18th century", said DiStefano. Interstellar travel would not take much time too.
