Extraterrestrial civilizations do not visit us because our sun is boring

Our Sun is boring: the reason why no extraterrestrial civilization has visited us, according to a new study.
Enrico Fermi is the author of a paradox named after him, which attempts to explain why no alien civilization has come into contact with us on Earth. The illusion of knowing if another intelligent race exists has been the fruit of investigations and stories since time immemorial, but until now we have had no indication that we are partners in the universe. According to a new study, the reason is clear: the problem is our sun.

Based on Drake’s equation, Jacob Haqq-Misra and Thomas J. Fauchez are the authors of the new hypothesis, published in the Astronomical Journal. The same hypothesis is based on the assumption that technologically advanced civilizations travel from star to star in search of the expansion or survival of their species. But in the process, there may be solar systems that are not attractive to them.

Drake’s equation

It should be noted that the Drake equation attempts to calculate the number of civilizations that could exist in the Milky Way based on the rate of star formation, how many of those stars have planets around them, and how many of those could be in a habitable region.

Subsequently, he estimates how many habitable planets could support life and how many life forms could develop advanced technologies to demonstrate their presence in other parts of the universe.

Jacob Haqq-Misra and Thomas J. Fauchez argue that these civilizations will seek to expand via K- or M-type dwarfs, which are longer-lived stars, which are omitted from the formulation of the Drake equation.

Our Sun is a star of spectral type G2 and luminosity V. For its part, type K stars are orange dwarfs and type M stars are red dwarfs. Both types are characterized by being less bright than our sun, but still habitable. It is also important to note that they are stars that last longer on the main sequence and are more stable than our sun.

According to expert calculations, our sun is 4.6 billion years old and its main sequence will last another 10 billion years. However, it is estimated that in about a billion years, it will begin to expand, wiping out life as we know it on Earth.

By contrast, K-type stars remain stable between 2.5 and 80 billion years. This would allow any civilization looking for long-term habitation to choose these systems in our galaxy.

“But we don’t know much more about whether or not such galactic-scale expansion would be usual or desirable for technological civilizations in general,” the authors of this new study write.