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From a Jupiter-like gas giant type exoplanet, which generate radio emissions through entirely natural processes just like the gas giants in our own solar system
by WJW 6y ago
From a Jupiter-like gas giant type exoplanet, which generate radio emissions through entirely natural processes just like the gas giants in our own solar system.
The title is a tad more spectacular than the actual discovery.
- Koiwai 6y agoI'd like to suggest that "suggesting" is a better word here.
- a3n 6y agoActually I read the title exactly as what the article described. In fact I wasn't going to read it at all -- "meh" -- until I realized there was a small chance that it might be about something interesting rather than natural.
- leokennis 6y agoCame into the comment section expecting a cold shower. Was not disappointed.
- disown 6y agoNothing like the comment section to snap you back to reality.
- autocorr 6y agoI suppose... but often the top comment is wrong or mis-leading in some way: "the middle-brow dismissal" HN is famous for. I usually find the most enlightening commentary on HN a few replies down from the top comment where a true expert chimes in to show why the middle-brow dismissal is in fact incorrect and adds their own nuance to the conversation.
- kortilla 6y ago> "the middle-brow dismissal" HN is famous for. Famous amongst what group?
- autocorr 6y agoThe site guidelines and @dang suggest "shallow dismissal" is now the preferred term. Paul Graham, cofounder of YC explains in a comment, back when he still posted: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4693920 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4693920
- coolspot 6y agoI guess significance here is that if we can isolate radio signals from naturally-emitting planet, we potentially can isolate radio signals from artificially-emitting planet.
- wcoenen 6y agoI was going to reply that it might be difficult to match the power of something like Jupiter's radio signals. However, it turns out that Jupiter's decametric radio emissions are only about the equivalent of a megawatt antenna[1]. The US air force already has a radar with a peak power of 32 megawatts[2]. So with sufficient motivation, in principle we or an alien civilization could certainly send regular signals like that. [1] https://www.space.com/26419-jupiter-radio-waves-alien-life.html https://www.space.com/26419-jupiter-radio-waves-alien-life.h... [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eglin_AFB_Site_C-6 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eglin_AFB_Site_C-6
- xenophonf 6y agoNot only could we send those kinds of signals, we already have done it using the Arecibo Telescope (RIP), which h̶a̶s̶ had EIRPs ranging from 200 megawatts to 22,000,000 megawatts depending on the transmission frequency. In 1974, we beamed a short message to the Messier 13 globular cluster with a transmission power of just under half a megawatt. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arecibo_message https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arecibo_message
- formerly_proven 6y agoConverting the output of a narrow-beam transmitter to EIRP for comparison with radiation sources in the universe makes the assumption that the user of the transmitter knows where to point it.
- flobosg 6y agoThis comment left me wondering: What's the astronomy equivalent of “in mice”?
- checkyoursudo 6y agoGotta be something like "(but it's probably not aliens)", right?
- rob74 6y agoCould you use "non-biogenic" (https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/biogenic https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/biogenic) for a thing like radio emissions?
- DaiPlusPlus 6y agoThat still suggests a _machine race_ could have sent it.
- cercatrova 6y agoWe could define intelligent life as being any of a sapient species, regardless of physical composition. That's helps do away with only carbon-based lifeforms.
- MichaelZuo 6y agoWhat would be the definition of sapience for a machine civilization?
- cercatrova 6y agoSame as for humans. Or a hive mind, or some other type.
- MichaelZuo 6y ago
- modzu 6y agoyes, what is novel here is that the exoplanet was detected using radio (in other words the discovery of the planet is what is significant, not the signal)
- ojnabieoot 6y agoThe title is in an odd spot where, on the face, it is completely anodyne, and not at all misleading or “clickbait.” Yet even sensible readers (like me!) see “radio” and “exoplanet” in the same sentence and think “ALIENS!” Very awkward spot for the science PR people writing this. It’s almost like it needs extra words to prevent people from adding “Possible (But Definitely Non-Alien) Radio Emission From Exoplanet (Which Cannot Support Life) Detected”
- chongli 6y agoIt’s a radio emission, not a radio transmission. That’s a key distinction that may be lost on a lay reader (or anyone not paying enough attention). Astronomers, amateur astronomers, and astronomy enthusiasts all tend to be aware of the fact that radio is just another part of the spectrum we can use to look at the universe. It’s a strange quirk of our culture that the word radio carries connotations of technology and thus connotes intelligence.
- solstice 6y ago> It’s a strange quirk of our culture that the word radio carries connotations of technology and thus connotes intelligence. Counterpoint: "radio wave fart from exoplanet detected". No connotation of intelligence IMO
- Apocryphon 6y agoThough, perhaps, of biology.
- 8bitsrule 6y agoNot quite as whack as the rash of headlines a while back referring to FRB as 'mysterious radio signals' from 'deep space'.
- standardUser 6y ago"Natural Radio Emission" seems to clarify things just fine.
- autocorr 6y agoThat's funny because as an astronomer the title is both very exciting and completely fair. We've known about long-wavelength radio emission from Jupiter for ages. Astronomers have been looking for the same thing in exoplanet systems probably since shortly after their discovery! But because they are so far away, the emission is faint and hard to detect. This is also very long wavelength radio (in the tens of megahertz) which is a difficult portion of the spectrum to work in. I suppose it is less spectacular if one makes the immediate connection "radio <-> techno-signature", but that's unwarranted and not a fault of the press release or the author, in my opinion. Jupiter's auroral emissions are mainly caused by volcano's on Io, so it's not unrealistic to think we can learn a lot about planetary mass objects (the moons) from observations like these.
- piracy1 6y agoComments like these are why I mostly only read the comments and headline.