[ad_1]
Just days after researchers at Harvard University have suggested that aliens have sent a probe into our solar system, new research at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology suggests that we will soon be able to signal our presence to aliens at the same time. # 39; helper of a high power laser. beam.
No, it's not a playground for a sci-fi movie. It was rather the basis of a "feasibility study" led by James Clark, a graduate student of MIT, who had revealed that using existing and imminent technology, humans could, in principle, turn a laser and a telescope into a beacon emitting an explosion of radiation showing the aliens that we are, in fact, here, said Clark.
The study, published Sunday in The Astrophysical Journal, states that if humans projected a 1 to 2 megawatt laser through a 30- to 45-meter telescope and directed it to space, the beam of infrared radiation produced would be Powerful enough for Clark said that intelligent life in the universe was different from that of the sun.
This hypothetical signal from the Earth would be detected by the extraterrestrial space observers – if they are there – as they scanned our section of the Milky Way.
The most likely witnesses to the beacon would be "extraterrestrial astronomers" of an exoplanet orbiting Proxima Centauri, the star closest to the Earth (excluding the sun), to only 4.25 light-years away, Clark said.
TRAPPIST-1, a planetary system located 39 light-years away and comprising three exoplanets that scientists say could be habitable, could be found, according to a statement by MIT regarding the Clark study. The study estimates that the laser could be visible up to 20,000 light-years from Earth.
"We can not put as much power as the sun produced in a laser – it's just not practical – but a laser produces all its power in a wavelength, a very narrow part of the spectrum , so that it is not detectable. that it is more powerful than the sun, but very distinct from the sun, "Clark said. "If extraterrestrial astronomers looked at the sun, the specter of the sun would gain a small peak."
Clark's study shows that the construction of this magnified laser is possible and could serve as a signal for extraterrestrial life.
That does not necessarily mean that should be done, he said.
"Should we attract extraterrestrial attention? I have established that we can do it, but that does not mean it's a good idea, "said Clark. "Whether it's a good idea or not, it's an exercise for future work."
You can contact Andres Picon at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter at @andpicon.
[ad_2]
Source link
