posted
This reminds me, I found an interesting resource at www.scifi-az.com . They have a PDF star map that shows all the stars within 25 lightyears of Earth. It is a star [i]map[i] rather than a star chart, in that while it is centered on Earth, the stars are laid out in a Cartesian system rather than as a representation of the night sky as seen from Earth. It also has referance material about star types and a listing of all the more well known stars and where they are as well.
You can view it directly by clicking here or just download the PDF by right clicking and selecting 'download target'.
It includes a bit more information about the different classes of stars, including a range for the orbits at which a planet would receive the same amount of radiation from the star as Earth does from the Sun, which is a handy figure to have available :-)
posted
Yes. Of course, we should be able to figure that out for ourselves...but I personally...am not actually too lazy, but I....
What was my point?
Oh, yes, you also need to take into account the spectrum of light you're getting. The big boyz won't only not last long enough to develop complex life on their own, they won't be too nice for colonization, because their spectrum is skewed to the high end. The same isn't true of the runtz, though.
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