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Is 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 a

Is 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 ago
Not necessarily attempts to communicate with Earth. Aliens might be using beamed propulsion for solar sails, for example.
- mcv 5y ago
  This 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 ago
    Also 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 ago
      Yeah, 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 ago
        I'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 ago
        If 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.
  - matthewdgreen 5y ago
    >I'm sure they have plenty of closer targets to send their probes to. And perhaps they already have: https://arxiv.org/pdf/2111.01208.pdf https://arxiv.org/pdf/2111.01208.pdf
  - cma 5y ago
    It doesn't have to be directly at us, there is a misconception that lasers don't spread, but they do, the inverse square law even still applies to them at big distances.
kumarvvr 5y ago
I guess our light spectrum implies water and complex hydrocarbons. A surely important object of study, from intelligent aliens.
jcims 5y ago
It'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.

MattPalmer1086 5y ago

Not necessarily attempts to communicate with Earth. Aliens might be using beamed propulsion for solar sails, for example.

mcv 5y ago
This 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 ago
  Also 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 ago
    Yeah, 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 ago
      I'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 ago
      If 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.
- matthewdgreen 5y ago
  >I'm sure they have plenty of closer targets to send their probes to. And perhaps they already have: https://arxiv.org/pdf/2111.01208.pdf https://arxiv.org/pdf/2111.01208.pdf
- cma 5y ago
  It doesn't have to be directly at us, there is a misconception that lasers don't spread, but they do, the inverse square law even still applies to them at big distances.

kumarvvr 5y ago

I guess our light spectrum implies water and complex hydrocarbons. A surely important object of study, from intelligent aliens.

jcims 5y ago

It'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.