I just want some sunlike stars!

[jude_rook]

Taking another break from the survey of the nearest stars for today.  So far, we’ve seen a number of stars within 20 light years that could have habitable planets, but are still significantly different from Sol in one way or another -- they’re smaller, they’re younger or older, metallicity is low, or they’re part of a multiple-star system.  All these differences can led to story possibilities, of course.  But maybe you’re not looking to design a world as peculiar as the ones Larry Niven, say, whips up.  Maybe you just want to plant your characters on a planet with a that’s very much like Sol, so your planet can be much like Earth. Which nearby stars, then, are the closest matches to Sol?

Margaret Turnbull is an astronomer who’s devoted her career to the search for extraterrestrial life.  To that end, a few years ago she picked the five stars very much like Sol in terms of spectral class, age, metallicity and lack of interference from close binaries.  She considers these stars the best bets for anyone looking for radio signals from an extraterrestrial civilization, but they‘re also good bets for SF writers looking to create near-twins for Earth.

• Beta Canum Venaticorum, a G0V star 27 light years away.  It may have a binary companion.
• HD 10307, a G1V star with an M companion, 41 light years away, in the constellation Andromeda.  Also known as Gliese 67.
• HD 211415, a G1V star with an M companion at a safe distance, 44 light years away in the constellation Grus.  Also known as Gliese 853.
• 18 Scorpii, a G1V star 46 light years away.  May have a binary companion.
• 51 Pegasi, a G2V star 50 light years away.  We already know 51 Pegasi has a super-Jovian planet, the first ever detected by astronomers back in 1995.

More details can be found at: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/02/060221090638.htm.