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Presumably attempts to communicate with the earth. If we can see them, they can certainly see us.
by jcims 5y ago
Presumably attempts to communicate with the earth. If we can see them, they can certainly see us.
- throwawayffffas 5y agoThey almost definitely can't see us. It's 1470 light years away, the light they are seeing now left earth in 650 AD, there wouldn't be much to see, at least assuming the presumed ETs can detect EM transmissions and analyze the earths atmosphere but not directly observe the surface with any appreciable resolution.
- jcims 5y agoThe underlying theory behind the SETI interest is that we are seeing the effects of 'alien megastructures' in orbit around that star. If they can build that, presumably they would be able to build scientific instrumentation to characterize the planet if not directly image it.
- hungryforcodes 5y agoI think his point is more that -- given the speed of light -- it's extremely unlikely that there is anything to see from us in...650AD which is what would be arriving there right now.
- Mountain_Skies 5y agoIs there any reason for our planetary system to attract attention? It's too far away for our radio transmissions to have attracted attention. Not sure there's anything unusual about us that would warrant attention from a distance.
- MattPalmer1086 5y agoNot necessarily attempts to communicate with Earth. Aliens might be using beamed propulsion for solar sails, for example.
- mcv 5y agoThis is probably the only good reason I can think of why they might point a laser directly at us. They have no idea we're here, listening. The chances that we happen to be listening at exactly the right moment is miniscule. For the same reason, I don't have a lot of hope that SETI using radiotelescopes will ever find anything. But using lasers to power a ship or probe headed to our solar system could make sense. Well, maybe not from Tabby's Star; it's over 1000 ly away. I'm sure they have plenty of closer targets to send their probes to.
- MattPalmer1086 5y agoAlso just powering craft in their own system, doesn't have to be interstellar targets. See this post for an interesting take on how we could use it in the solar system. https://www.centauri-dreams.org/2022/01/11/interstellar-reach-the-challenge-of-beamed-energy/ https://www.centauri-dreams.org/2022/01/11/interstellar-reac...
- mcv 5y agoYeah, but then what's the likelihood of aiming directly at us? Even a fraction of a degree off and we won't see it.
- MattPalmer1086 5y agoI'd say higher for intra system craft, as you'd expect a much higher volume of such craft pointing at a greater number of targets at different orbital positions than interstellar targets.
- hotpotamus 5y agoIf you have a decent understanding of the planets in a system you could potentially time your observations to when planets are in alignments that would beam lasers / radio waves your way. It's possible that you could pick up directed in-system communications that are overshooting their destinations rather than broadcasts intended for potential interstellar neighbors.
- kumarvvr 5y agoI guess our light spectrum implies water and complex hydrocarbons. A surely important object of study, from intelligent aliens.
- jcims 5y agoIt's a rocky planet in the 'goldilocks' zone that is flickering with the spectral fingerprints that indicate life is present and flourishing. Within a hundred years we'll almost certainly be directly imaging exoplanets within 10-20ly. A thousand years from now it seems plausible we'll have a good catalog of the interesting ones.