In terms of what we see in the night sky, are we a statistical anomaly compared to the average star system? That is, what percentage of stars with potentially habitable planets exist close enough to other stars to see a significant number of them in the night sky, have a mostly unimpeded view of other galaxies beyond their own, and aren’t in any sort of “cosmic fog” (inside a nebula, etc.) unable to see much of anything? Would that percentage be different if we included uninhabitable star systems? What about if we included all star systems from the beginning to the “end” of the universe (aka the point at which no more stars are being produced, for the purpose of this question), not just the universe as it is today?

I’m not sure how important it is that these questions be answered, but I would definitely be interested if it turns out that our view of the heavens is a statistically unlikely one. My guess would be that we’re experiencing one of the more common views of the universe, but I could imagine it being possible that most habitable planets are likely to exist at a time when views of other galaxies are not available. If so—especially if our view is remarkably unlikely—what would the implications of that be?