FP TrendingJanuary 5, 2021 2:47:49 PM
Researchers from Penn State University are examining a signal detected by a radio telescope aimed at Proxima Centauri. It is the neighboring small star of the Milky Way and is part of the Alpha Centauri. The radio signal was originally picked up in April and May 2019. In interaction with The New York TimesSofia Sheikh, a graduate of Penn State, and the lead author of the study, stated that the signal is some kind of technological signal, but the question is whether it is earth engineering or from somewhere else.
Sheikh is part of a $ 100 million effort funded by Russian billionaire investor Yuri Milner to find alien radio waves. This is the first candidate of the Breakthrough Listen project or BLC-1. According to an article by SET, this is just a candidate, not a confirmed signal and even everyone at Breakthrough Listen emphasized this, including Executive Director Pete Worden.
The 64-meter radio telescope at the Parkes Observatory in Australia was used to detect the potential signals from Proxima Centauri.
The closest galaxy to Earth is the famous Alpha Centauri group. Located in the constellation of Centaurus (the Centaur), 4.3 light-years away, this system consists of the binary star formed by the stars Alpha Centauri A and Alpha Centauri B, plus the faint red dwarf Alpha Centauri C, also known as Proxima. Centauri. Image credit: ESA / Hubble & NASA
He told the New York Times that the signal only seems to shop in their data when they look in the direction of Proxima Centauri. Andrew Siemion of the Berkeley SETI Research Center and researcher for Breakthrough Listen added that his instinct tells him the signal will be anthropogenic in origin.
Proxima Centauri, a red dwarf star, orbits two known planets, one of which is in the ‘habitable zone’ that could support Earth-like conditions.
In an interaction with Scientific American, Penn State University professor Jason Wright stated that if someone sees such a signal and it doesn’t come from Earth’s surface, they know they’ve detected alien technology.
Speak against Scientific AmericanSheikh went on to say that this is the most exciting signal they’ve found in the Breakthrough Listen project as they haven’t had a signal jump through their filters that often.