Effect of really long-distance cultural relations

For a story idea, I'm wondering about the effects that the discovery of another intelligent species without FTL travel would have.

If we discovered another species much like ours, 50-100 light years away, how would we interact with them? Obviously, radio waves would be a first, but what is the physics on that? Would it even be possible to establish reliable communication at this distance? Obviously, we would want to visit, and with future technology, a round-trip time of a few hundred years is certainly possible. But by the time you arrive, your space ship is ancient technology even on your home world.

Would we travel at all, given these circumstances? Or would we be content with communication?

How does this scenario change with distance? Obviously, at 5 light years, the setting would be very different.

Any pointers to short stories, movies, other sources that dabble with such scenarios?

posted about 7 years ago

Tom‭

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