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Nearby stars in science fiction
Jul. 9th, 2010 07:33 pmIf you write SF, it’s easy to put your imagined planets around fictional stars. You can decide where they are in relation to each other and to Earth, what their characteristics are, what their planetary systems are like. It’s a valid and honourable option, and if your story takes place in another spiral arm of the galaxy, you may not have another choice.
On the other hand, if you want to set your story within a few dozen light years or so of Earth, you not only have to know where the local stars are, you have to take into account all the astronomical information that’s been pouring in over the past few years -- data on any discovered extrasolar planets, stars’ age and metallicity, any close stellar or substellar companions.
A lot of my favourite SF takes place within this area, such as Niven’s Known Space and Cherryh’s Alliance/Union universe. One reason I appreciate them it that it’s nice to know the writers did their astronomical homework.
So I’m going to go through some of the closest stars to Earth to evaluate their usefulness for the SF writer, specifically the one who’s looking for places to locate planets where humans could live.
If you’re doing research like this on your own, useful resources include:
The Internet Stellar Database -- tons of info on stars up to 75 light years out, but does not appear to have been updated in a few years. Particularly useful are the XYZ coordinates given for each star, so you can figure out how far they from each other.
Solstation.com’s “Notable Nearby Stars” -- lots of essays on stars within 65 light years or so of us.
Up first: Proxima Centauri!
On the other hand, if you want to set your story within a few dozen light years or so of Earth, you not only have to know where the local stars are, you have to take into account all the astronomical information that’s been pouring in over the past few years -- data on any discovered extrasolar planets, stars’ age and metallicity, any close stellar or substellar companions.
A lot of my favourite SF takes place within this area, such as Niven’s Known Space and Cherryh’s Alliance/Union universe. One reason I appreciate them it that it’s nice to know the writers did their astronomical homework.
So I’m going to go through some of the closest stars to Earth to evaluate their usefulness for the SF writer, specifically the one who’s looking for places to locate planets where humans could live.
If you’re doing research like this on your own, useful resources include:
The Internet Stellar Database -- tons of info on stars up to 75 light years out, but does not appear to have been updated in a few years. Particularly useful are the XYZ coordinates given for each star, so you can figure out how far they from each other.
Solstation.com’s “Notable Nearby Stars” -- lots of essays on stars within 65 light years or so of us.
Up first: Proxima Centauri!