Re: Intelligent signals from globular clusters?

In message <2WUOaAAu3xADFwBJ@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>, Mike Williams <nospam@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> writes
Wasn't it AA Institute who wrote: 
That low? Fair comment, I can't argue with you on the metallicity figs.

But I have a hard time picturing how a globular cluster could condense
into a ball of stars out of a cloud of initial gas and dust... without
leaving a few bits of material floating around to form planets. I still
don't see how metallicity plays such a big part in this.

Do you have a suggestion? 

Once upon a time there was a big bang which created large amounts of
Hydrogen and Helium. Stars that were formed when the universe was young
consisted mainly of those two elements. Some of those early stars were
large and ended up exploding as supernovae. Such supernovae created and
dispersed elements heavier than Helium (what astronomers call "metals").

Stars that formed later in the history of the universe contain some of
these heavier elements that were created in previous supernovae.

Globular clusters consist of old stars that were made when the universe
had lower amounts of heavy elements.

There's actually good evidence for young globular clusters, and the most spectacular example I know of is NGC 1818 <http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap990117.html>
It reminds me of the strange and wonderful place Poul Anderson describes in his short story "Starfog".
'Where space is a shining cloud, two hundred light years across, roiled by the red stars that number in the may thousands, and where the brighter suns are troubled and cast forth great flames. Your space is dark and lonely.'
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