FP trendsJanuary 5, 2021 2:47:49 PM
Researchers at Penn State University are examining a signal that was detected by a radio telescope aimed at Proxima Centauri. It is the small neighboring star of the Milky Way and is part of the Alpha Centauri. The radio signal was initially picked up in April and May 2019. In an interaction with New York Times, Sofia Sheikh, a Penn State graduate and lead author of the study, said the signal is a kind of technological signal, but the question is whether it is Earth’s technology or elsewhere.
The sheikh is part of a $ 100 million effort funded by Russian billionaire investor Yuri Milner to find foreign radio waves. This is the first candidate of the Breakthrough Listen or BLC-1 project. According to an article by SET, this is just a candidate, not a confirmed signal and even everyone at Breakthrough Listen pointed this out, including CEO Pete Worden.
The sixty-four-meter radio telescope at the Parkes Observatory in Australia was used to detect potential signals from Proxima Centauri.
The closest star system to Earth is the famous Alpha Centauri group. Located in the constellation Centaurus (Centaurus), at a distance of 4.3 light years, this system consists of the binary consisting of 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 and NASA
He told the New York Times that the signal seems to buy into their data only when looking in the direction of Proxima Centauri. Andrew Siemion of the Berkeley SETI Research Center and investigator for Breakthrough Listen added that his instincts tell him that the signal will have an anthropogenic origin.
Proxima Centauri, which is a red dwarf star, is orbited by 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 said that if such a signal is seen and does not come from the Earth’s surface, it is known that they have detected extraterrestrial technology.
Talking to Scientific AmericanSheikh also said that it is the most interesting signal they found in the Breakthrough Listen project, because they have not had a signal jump through their filters so many times.