The existence of aliens continues to elude scientists, including those that have dedicated their lives to finding definitive proof of extraterrestrial life. While a new study doesn’t point to the existence of aliens, some researchers have been left scratching their heads as to what the “coherent” signal being broadcast from an interstellar planet could be.
Published Monday in Nature Astronomy, scientists revealed they’ve discovered a repeating radio signal coming from the planet YZ Ceti b, located some 12 light-years from the edge of our solar system.
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“We saw the initial burst and it looked beautiful,” researcher Sebastian Pineda said of the signal in a statement. “When we saw it again, it was very indicative that, OK, maybe we really have something here.”
Pineda lead the researcher with Jackie Villadsen, who says the radio waves must be substantially strong given the distance they’ve been transmitted.
“What we’re doing is looking for a way to see them,” Villadsen added in the statement. “We’re looking for planets that are really close to their stars and are a similar size to Earth. These planets are way too close to their stars to be somewhere you could live, but because they are so close the planet is kind of plowing through a bunch of stuff coming off the star.
She continued, “If the planet has a magnetic field and it plows through enough star stuff, it will cause the star to emit bright radio waves.”
For those hoping it was proof of alien life, you might be out of luck. Villadsen, Pineda, and the rest of their team are suggesting the signal is YZ Ceti b’s version of the Northern Lights or something like it.
“We’re actually seeing the aurora on the star — that’s what this radio emission is,” Pineda explained. “There should also be aurora on the planet if it has its own atmosphere.”
He continued, “There are a lot of new radio facilities coming online and planned for the future. Once we show that this is really happening, we’ll be able to do it more systematically. We’re at the beginning of it.”
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