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An artist's sketch of a planetary beacon. A study from researchers at MIT is proposed for the use of lasers that will beam light across the universe. They said it will be detected by intelligent alien civilizations that are also looking for life in the universe. ( Massachusetts Institute of Technology )
Scientists at MIT want to use aliens, who are also looking for life in the universe, will find.
According to scientists, the beacons will be able to attract the attention of intelligent extraterrestrial life from as far as 20,000 light-years away from Earth. The team claims that a message sent through this process could reach a distant planet in a couple of years.
Searching For Alien Life
In a new study that appeared in The Astrophysical Journal, author James Clark proposed the use of high-powered 1 to 2-megawatt lasers, the lights of which are focused through a 30-to-45-meter telescope.
This would be a magnet for alien astronomers from a neighboring star system that may also be looking for signs of life in the universe.
Clark added that lasers can also be used to send messages to other planets in the form of pulses. It would be a neighboring star system like the Proxima Centauri – the nearest star to Earth – in just a few years.
"This would be a challenging project but not an impossible one," he stated. "The types of lasers and telescopes that are so detectable signal, so that an astronomer could take a look at its specter."
Megawatt Laser Beam: Good Gold Bad Idea?
However, there is a serious alien civilization in the universe. While Earth currently has the technology to create the beacon, the beam would produce 800 watts of power per square meter. The beacon could also damage any cameras onboard any spacecraft that happens to pass in its path.
Moreover, Clark is not sure if it will be aided by a similar process. While a telescope from Earth can spot the beacon, scientists should first know where to look.
"It is vanishingly unlikely that a telescope survey would actually observe an extraterrestrial laser unless we restrict our survey to the nearest stars," he added.
The researchers hope that the study will pave the way to the creation of infrared imaging techniques that could spot laser beacons in space.
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