Astronomers have recently tested an innovative method to search for alien life. They focused on a nearby star system called TRAPPIST-1. This system, located just 41 light years away. It features seven rocky, Earth-sized planets, three of which lie within the habitable zone where liquid water and potentially life could exist.
The breakthrough study, soon to be published in The Astronomical Journal, offers new hope in the hunt for alien civilisations by listening for specific types of radio signals.
The researchers focused on detecting narrowband radio signals – similar to the ones we use to communicate with our own spacecraft. These signals require less power but are also more challenging to detect over vast distances. The team aimed to capture signals that might not have been intended for deep space but could be emitted from one planet to another within the same star system.
To test their idea, the astronomers used the Allan Telescope Array, a group of powerful radio telescopes, to scan TRAPPIST-1 for a total of 28 hours in one of the longest searches ever conducted in this star system. During this period, the team waited for specific events called planet-planet occultations, when one planet passes in front of another from Earth’s viewpoint, similar to a solar eclipse. These moments offered the best chance to catch potential “spillover” signals from one planet communicating with another.
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Although the search didn’t uncover any evidence of alien life, the technique proved successful in identifying promising candidate signals. According to Nick Tusay, the study’s lead author from Penn State University, “The TRAPPIST-1 system is an ideal place to test these techniques because of its proximity to Earth and the detailed information we have about its planets’ orbits.”
While no alien signals were detected, the study demonstrates that this approach can be applied to other star systems, raising the likelihood of discovering extraterrestrial communications in the future.
“With better equipment, like the upcoming Square Kilometer Array, we might soon be able to detect signals from an alien civilisation communicating with its spacecraft,” Tusay said in a statement.
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(Image: ESA)
