Re: BSG+ Centauri A, B, C and Cally (was Re: Anyone else notice...)

In article <673ll0F2ngah5U1@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>,
KalElFan <kalelfan@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote:
>"Rob Jensen" <ShutUpRob@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote in message 
>news:flfo04d65oktn8aavs060mr2mrfu4nj6pv@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>
>> ... it's KalElFan who's trying to make the argument that
>> Starbuck saw Alpha Centauri.
>
>> ... with the caveat of the remote possibility that... the
>> the Alpha Centauri system has radically changed into
>> three pulsating stars, it's clearly not Alpha Centauri....
>
>Cite the transcript that says she saw all three stars flash.
>I distinctly remember the shot being of the binary stars
>very far in the distance, and constant in brightness.
>
>Maybe Starbuck saw something other than Alpha Centauri,
>but this is an SF show that's received lots of acclaim and it
>seems to me that invoking a triple or trinary star system is
>not just a coincidence.  Binary stars are very common, as
>are lone stars with gas giant planets that never achieved the
>necessary mass to form a binary companion star.  Trinary
>star systems are more rare, but the closest star system to
>us happens to be one, and a few clicks on the web yields
>all kinds of information on that.  Why would anyone think
>this was a coincidence, after Starbuck provided proof of
>Earth and what sounded like Saturn?  It seems much more
>likely that the writers intend us to be thinking of the Alpha
>Centauri triple star system.

Again, the point is that Alpha Centauri is a very sucky
signpost to Earth.      On a Galactic scale, Alpha Centauri
is in Earth's backyard.  If you can see Alpha Centauri, you can
see the Zodiac, you can see M8, and the sun is just as bright.

If you want to show people a signpost for the _way_ to Earth you
would show them some major astronomical object about halfway
there, a nice nebula or open cluster or very bright star.   Alpha
Centauri is an ordinary star, same brightness as the sun, the only
thing different is it has some companions.   We have seen this
otherwise very dim companion -- absolute magnitude of 15.5 -- because
we are very close, and have studied our sky very carefully and our
closest neighbour carefully.    From any serious distance finding a
star with an absolute magnitude of 15.5 takes some serious work.
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