Real Space & Sci-Fi Script.

[NPSF3000]

Hi guys,

I'm writing a sci-fi script for fun, and was looking for informed opinions and knowledge to make it somewhat compatible with reality. I am trying to be deliberately vague, to not give away the story or limit your imagination.

Background:

Humanity is emerging into space in the somewhat near future. One particular spacecraft (one of many explorations) travels to a *distant* planet.

Current Theory:

Said spaceship utalises a primitive FTL drive(Subspace/warp) to get to a nearby Solar system in 6-12 months.

Then it utilizes some weird phenomena to jump to the *Distant* solar system. Possibly one that could be present in this solar system, but to a much lessor scale.

I need:

A solar system within say 10 light years (Since the FTL is Primitive), that has properties that could serve as a nice "weird phenomena". What and how is up to your informed imagination (hopefully not Alpha Centauri).

A solar system around say 100 light years that could seriously be considered unusual - one that could contain life. One that really stands out because of some property.

I'm looking for candidate systems that would legitimately deserve attention and then all relevant things to make the story *cooler*. Similar to a wooden ship encountering the Aurora Borealis etc.

Thanks for you time, if you have any candidate systems that would be worth further investigation, or comments/criticism of any kind please post below or contact me.

NPSF3000

0010 1011 OR ! 0010 1011 = -1


If this is inappropriate, against the rules or in the wrong section, please excuse my trespass.

[el_draco (Rom)]

Drop dead candidate would be "Barnards Star" or the "run away star" which is next out from Alpha Centauri at about 2 parsecs.

Its a red dwarf star thats moving very fast relative to other stars near us; you could tie that into the script; ie "why is it so?". It's ancient and may have planets.

Its also been the target of a lot of space travel theory; see "Daedalus". Because its a M class Dwarf, its light is decidedly red and its dim. Planets around it would experience nothing like our daylight, more like a very bright moonlight.

Even though its strong in the I.R. range, Earth like planets would need to orbit close for any chance of water having a 3 phases.

I'd love to visit it myself. Reminds me of a system in a novel series called "Dark Over". Humans crashed on the planet and started a colony.

Anyhow, thats my suggestion.

[wmzaphod]

"A solar system within say 10 light years (Since the FTL is Primitive), that has properties that could serve as a nice "weird phenomena".

Does it have to be a solar system? - why not a Nebula (star-birth and the like) - lots of cool (hot) gasses and colours

[multiweb (Marc)]

Originally Posted by wmzaphod

- why not a Nebula (star-birth and the like) - lots of cool (hot) gasses and colours

Like in the movie Contact. That was a pretty cool sky right next to these nebs. I wonder though if it would be the right environment for life close by?

[NPSF3000]

Originally Posted by el_draco

Drop dead candidate would be "Barnards Star" or the "run away star" which is next out from Alpha Centauri at about 2 parsecs.

Its a red dwarf star thats moving very fast relative to other stars near us; you could tie that into the script; ie "why is it so?". It's ancient and may have planets.

Thank you for this suggestion, the speed factor does intrigue me.

Originally Posted by wmzaphod

"A solar system within say 10 light years (Since the FTL is Primitive), that has properties that could serve as a nice "weird phenomena".

Does it have to be a solar system? - why not a Nebula (star-birth and the like) - lots of cool (hot) gasses and colours

Defiantly - if there any nebula within 100 or so light years (the closer the better) - or even the possibility of a nebula it would be fantastic.

Personally I believe that the odds of finding intelligent life in the near future is 0, so I'm trying to find other plot devices(sorry avatar ). Things like nebula (after a quick wiki) are intriguing on several levels to me.

On that, what sort of things might we discover with FTL nearby that we can't detect now?

Thanks for your suggestions and help.

[el_draco (Rom)]

Originally Posted by NPSF3000

Personally I believe that the odds of finding intelligent life in the near future is 0, so I'm trying to find other plot devices(sorry avatar ).

My thoughts are different on that score. Only a few years ago, everyone was saying "you'll never be able to find planets around other stars" We know of hundreds now. The biggest scope in the world was a 6m Russian and now we have Hubble and the Keck. Even "meer" amateurs are making huge discoveries, including planets. Another 10 years, Gawd only knows.

I suspect the number one reason we have not found intelligent life in outer space is because "they" have been watching and listening to our T.V. broardcasts and everyone for an 80 L.Y. radius of the sun is saying,

"Shhhhhh!!!, If we all stay very quiet, those bloody barbaric moron savages on that rock they call earth, may give up and stop looking for us".

I've also seen AVITAR

[M54 (Molly)]

Didn't Klaatu and Gort (The Day the Earth Stood Still, 1951) come from Barnard's star?