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by baq 845 days ago
Assuming fusion drives are a thing we should be able to see them as they'd be glowing rather bright.

https://www.projectrho.com/public_html/rocket/torchships.php

1 comments

Unless, of course, all the ships are coming straight towards us.
That would actually make them easier to spot, as they'd need to flip around for a breaking burn roughly equal to their acceleration burn, pointing their engines straight at us. (Assuming they want to stop by and say hi, of course. If not, then there's not much to worry about.)
> not much to worry about.

Unless they are literally coming straight ahead at us!

If they intend to go straight through Earth at relativistic speeds (to establish a hyperspace bypass, perhaps?), then there's really not much we can do about it anyway. :p
You could lie down, or put a paper bag over your head.
Fusion drives wouldn't allow these ships to get anywhere near the speed of light, so we would have ample time to see the light they emit long before they arrive.