That would be pretty neat if we could ping pong our way somewhere else doing that. Assuming there were enough rogue planets sitting there in the dark. Below a certain density it doesn't offer much but above a certain density it would be a goldmine. I would assume we could gain speed with each slingshot

The computation for gravitational slingshots shouldn't be very extreme. It's straightforward, but would require a fair amount of data. Once out of a star's system, it should be easier to slingshot around stars than planets.

on the contrary:

if we map it well enough, think of the gravitational slingshots

we always talk about the need to go straight line and have constant thrust over huge distances (and then braking)

but what if we had amazing maps, and were able to plot courses on gravitational slingshots one after the other over huge distances?

it would require exquisite mapping, even little objects would kill

and it would require extreme computation, as all these things are moving

well, truthfully, it's more space opera than science fiction

The Pleiades are a bit older but not very old, some 100 million years. How do we know? From its colour-magnitude diagram. The cluster contains hot, bright blue stars that are still burning hydrogen, which would have branched off and turned into red giants burning helium, if the cluster were older.

And we collectivly took a step into a larger world.

it's probably the difference between

"there's one... and there's one"

and

"holy shit, in this field of view... that's a lot"

so like the pleiades!

also seven sisters

Young, known-unstable multiple star systems are often called 'trapezia' after the Trapezium in the Orion nebula. But that is perhaps better described as an open star cluster in formation.

The star formation history of Upper Scorpius and Ophiuchus

Abstract page for arXiv paper 2209.12938: The star formation history of Upper Scorpius and Ophiuchus

arXiv.org (arxiv.org)

Trapezium Cluster - Wikipedia

(en.wikipedia.org)

@johnlogic

@johnlogic

that's rather creepy

"why is there a faint glow nearby... and why does it seem to trace a path heading towards us"

not only testable, but in 4 months NASA is launching a craft to look for rogue planets/ brown dwarfs/ solitary gas giants sitting there in the dark (among other things)

Unveiling Rogue Planets With NASA’s Roman Space Telescope - NASA

New simulations show that NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope will be able to reveal myriad rogue planets – freely floating bodies that drift through our

NASA (www.nasa.gov)

Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope - Wikipedia

(en.wikipedia.org)

named after Nancy Roman:

Nancy Roman - Wikipedia

(en.wikipedia.org)

@johnlogic

@johnlogic

did you hear about this one?

septuple system

(!)

Nu Scorpii - Wikipedia

(en.wikipedia.org)

it's alien to us. with our single star

but in the wider galaxy, we are the alien ones

but it kind of makes sense doesn't it? it just follows logically

unsupported as yet by science (we've only seen a few), but it just "makes sense":

that interstellar space isn't empty, but riddled with gas giants

stars, essentially, not massive enough to ignite. just sitting there in the dark

they should outnumber the number of stars. just as a sheer result of gaussian distribution, and those that ignite are on the right side of the curve in size