This site may earn affiliate commissions from the links on this page. Terms of use.

GJ273-Feature

If you accept any kind of interest in space or the search for alien life y'all've probably heard of the SETI (Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence) project, which scours the universe for signs of intelligent communication targeting Earth. Active SETI, too known every bit METI (Messaging to Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence) packs more than great meat taste into every radio wave focuses on designing and transmitting a message to possible life-bearing planets, as opposed to searching for bear witness that they are trying to contact usa. Scientists have at present transmitted a signal to Luyten's Star (GJ 273), a crimson dwarf 12.36 light years away.

The point sent to Luyten'southward Star incorporates "a scientific and mathematical "tutorial," as well as 33 short musical compositions by artists in the Sónar community, according to Space.com. The team "beamed this bulletin out in binary code at ii different radio frequencies on October sixteen, 17, and 18, using the 105-foot-wide (32 meters) European Incoherent Scatter Scientific Association (EISCAT) radio antenna in Tromsø, Norway," according to the report.

Even under ideal conditions, we won't hear back from GJ 273 for 25 years, simply GJ 273 wasn't selected at random. It's a red dwarf star with a super-Earth planet orbiting on the border of its habitable zone, which significantly boosts (though does not establish) its chance of supporting life. Liquid water is considered a prerequisite for all life and therefore no planet without viable liquid water reserves somewhere on or under its surface is a candidate for potential advice. GJ 273's relative proximity to Earth and the known characteristics of its planetary organization make it a adequately good candidate for this kind of bulletin. Ross 128b, another potential life-supporting candidate nosotros covered this week, has less evidence behind information technology.

METI Content

Only the human activity of sending a message from Earth is somewhat controversial, seeing as it serves as a lovely "Hey, organic life over here!" argument. The fence has largely been academic, however. With known example of intelligent life elsewhere in the universe, nosotros don't yet know if there's anyone listening at all (or why there isn't, if there isn't). Even if anybody concerned was unilaterally on Squad METI, at that place are other bug: Designing a radio signal that conflicting life would itself interpret as an attempt by another species to communicate is hard. The Arecibo Message, shown below, is one example of a message, merely it won't arrive at its intended destination for thousands of years.

decoded

Scientists take worked to develop message protocol concepts that are fault-tolerant and contain fault correction mechanisms while simultaneously making the message as easy to receive and decode equally possible (think of this equally anti-cryptography). Inquiry into these areas is ongoing, but with decades to await betwixt phone calls, our ability to detect transmissions other civilizations are sending (if any) are always going to be more than near-term relevant than our ability to send and receive letters to another target. And, of course, beaming a message to a known planet that'due south sending us letters already is something that would be considered in a dissimilar light than firing letters into the ether.

Even if we manage to hitting on a planet that has intelligent life, in that location'southward no guarantee it would receive or empathise the message. Intelligent life has existed on Earth for tens of millions of years. Anatomically mod humans are 300,000 years old. But our ability to receive and understand a sophisticated radio betoken from an extraterrestrial source? Nosotros haven't been able to exercise that for a century yet. It'due south therefore entirely possible that some of the planets we transmit a message to could exist positively teeming with life, but in no position to understand our phone call.

For the curious: The website DrewExMachina does nifty write-ups on the habitability of diverse stars and planets. You can check reports on both Ross 128b and GJ 273.