Researchers believe it is possible to detect messages from aliens flying between planets, report Popular mechanics.
For more than half a century, scientists have been trying to detect messages from potential alien civilizations inhabiting our Galaxy. So far no signals have been detected that would indicate the existence of extraterrestrial intelligent life, but the search continues.
Researchers are mainly focused on finding alien messages that are aimed at Earth or fly by. But aliens can exchange messages between planets outside the solar system.
The authors of the studypublished in The Astronomical Journal, believe this communication can be rehearsed.
Astronomers have devised a way that tests show can detect alien radio communications. From Earth it can be observed that an exoplanet, that is, a planet outside the solar system, passes in front of another exoplanet and blocks it. This is called an eclipse.
But the eclipsing planet doesn’t always completely block the planet behind it. So any message that hypothetical aliens broadcast from the darkened planet could be sent into space, and radio telescopes on the ground could detect it.
In this way, scientists believe, the presence of extraterrestrial intelligence can be confirmed even if the aliens do not intend to contact other civilizations, but simply communicate with each other.
According to the researchers, their method can detect narrow-band radio signals. Such signals are clearly artificial, as only humans are known to emit them.
They believe that the presence of such radio signals would be evidence that communication is taking place in deep space, although this does not necessarily mean that aliens want to communicate with us.
The study authors believe that alien civilizations would most likely use the same communication methods as humans. At the same time, narrowband signals are easier to decipher if they are based on the same physics we know. Although whether this will work, scientists cannot yet provide an answer.
At the same time, astronomers recognize that any potential alien civilization could have existed much longer than human civilization. So their communication methods can differ significantly.
For example, aliens can communicate using gravitational waves or pulsations in the fabric of space-time. These waves have not yet been fully studied, so it is virtually impossible to understand whether their source is artificial or emitted by a natural object.
