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Greetings, citizens of the earth!
You’ve probably heard of the story, published in The Guardian, a respectable newspaper in the UK, on the potential discovery of an extraterrestrial signal from the Proxima Centauri system, the star closest to us.
This article and a complementary article in American scientist, noted that in April and May 2019, the Parkes Telescope in Australia was listening to Proxima b, a red dwarf. This star is known to be active, and this eavesdropping was part of a stellar rocket survey.
Shane Smith, a student at Breakthrough Listen, a Yuri Milner-funded program to research and find so-called technosignatures, or signals indicating the existence of a civilization like ours, verified the data. He found an extremely curious narrowband broadcast, sharp at 982.002 MHz.
The team inspected the data, confirmed its veracity and named it BLC1, standing for “Breakthrough Listen Candidate 1”.
The name clearly identifies what it is. It’s a candidate, not a confirmed signal. Everyone at Breakthrough Listen has pointed this out, including executive director Pete Worden.
Due to its profile, it is very unlikely that the signal was produced by a natural but unknown cosmic source, but who knows … Nature often surprises us.
A simple explanation is that Parkes picked up a signal from Earth. We use the radio to communicate, and it could be ground interference. And this is probably the most likely explanation.
But let’s take a closer look at the source. Astronomers have been paying a lot of attention to Proxima Centauri for years. It is the closest planetary system to Earth that we know of. In 2016, a team of astronomers led by Guillem Anglada-Escudé announced the discovery of Proxima b, a planet 20% larger than Earth orbiting its star every eleven days.
What really matters to astronomers is that this planet is located in the habitable zone of its star, where liquid water could exist on the surface. But it is essential to remember that we have not yet taken a photo of this exoplanet. We only know of its existence by the movement of its star, so we only have an estimate of its mass and orbit, nothing else.
In 2019, astronomers discovered another planet buried in the same data and named it Proxima c. This planet is seven times more massive than Earth and could be a super-Earth or a mini-Neptune. We think this world is too far from its star to be habitable.
The idea of a technologically advanced civilization living around our nearest stellar neighbor is quite extraordinary. But right now we have more questions than answers: why was the signal only detected once for 30 hours in April and May? What are the characteristics of the signal, i.e. its profile, strength and modulation, and has it varied in frequency for 30 hours due to its movement relative to us? Why didn’t observers alert the scientific community immediately after its discovery so that other people could confirm the signal?
Of the 300 million exoplanets that could be habitable in our galaxy, or 200,000 light years in diameter, it would be an astonishing coincidence for two civilizations (ours and one on Proxima b or c) to use the same technology at the same time. time. While I love the idea, it seems highly unlikely – which is why I suspect we’ll soon find a more mundane explanation for the signal’s origin.
In addition to the science and mystery associated with this signal, we need to discuss the background and the many conspiracies plaguing modern society.
When I meet someone who believes in conspiracy theories involving scientists, like those proposed by anti-vaxxers or those involving aliens, I tell them that I know my colleagues and that there will always be one that leaks such a secret. And that’s precisely what happened with BLC1, where the story began with a leak from a scientist from Breakthrough Listen to The Guardian. And what started as a leak is now catching on quickly in the news. I hope my colleagues and journalists will point out that this signal is a candidate and NOTHING BUT CANDIDATE. It is far too early to speculate on the consequences of finding a technosignature on Proxima Centauri, no matter how appealing and fun to talk about it.
2020 has been a crazy year on many levels, even in SETI. After the mysterious appearance of the monoliths and the announcement of the galactic federation, we now have BLC1, a curious and mysterious signal that could – or not – come from Proxima Centauri. It’s probably not an alien and we’ll confirm that soon. Of course, as a scientist at the SETI Institute, nothing would please me more than being wrong.
Clear sky,
Franck M.
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