About 100 light-years away lies the most mathematically perfect planetary system astronomers have ever seen.
At the end of last year, astronomers discovered a planetary system containing an ideal arrangement of six worlds. This system is so mathematically perfect that it appears to have been created artificially.
The authors of a new study published in Research Notes AAS suggested that one or more planets in this perfectly synchronized system may harbor an advanced alien civilization technologically advanced enough to detect signs of aliens. That’s why their search began, writes ScienceAlert.
At a distance of about 100 light-years, the orange dwarf star HD 110067 is surrounded by six planets, each orbiting in perfect harmony with the other worlds.
This system has ideal orbital resonances of the planets, and such a configuration of planetary systems is extremely rare. This system is believed to have been in a steady state since its formation about 1 billion years ago.
Studying the star system HD 110067 is very important for astronomers because of its very rare configuration. Authors of the new study believe that such stability of the planetary system could lead to the emergence of extraterrestrial life on one or even several planets, culminating in a technologically advanced civilization.
All six planets in this system are slightly larger than Earth but smaller than Neptune, and some are thought to be able to support liquid water, which is the basis for known life. It was therefore decided to look for signs of the presence of so-called alien technosignatures in the HD 110067 system.
Radio signals from Earth are known to remain quite strong within 100 light-years of our planet.
But the study’s authors decided to take the type of radio emission produced by Earth technology and extrapolate from it what alien technology might look like, to create a wavelength range and signal structure for searching for aliens.
Scientists have thoroughly searched for radio signals indicating the existence of past or present alien technology in the HD 110067 system. The authors of the study have eliminated any signals that could come from Earth, and have still found no signs of alien technology during this phase of the search.
Although the scientists didn’t find anything, they think the system is intriguing enough to return to in the future with more precise observations. Therefore, the search for technical signatures will continue.
The research has been published in the Research Notes from the AAS.
