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Earth-based radio telescopes would receive nothing from outside our solar system if that was true. Unless you mean to imply the heliosphere might be blocking l

by parfe 14y ago

Earth-based radio telescopes would receive nothing from outside our solar system if that was true. Unless you mean to imply the heliosphere might be blocking low powered radio signals from other spacecraft?

freehunter 14y ago
Well the speculation I mentioned did say something to the effect of "almost all". The possibility it sparked in my mind was that outer space is very very noisy and we only receive a very small sample of radio frequencies which happen to penetrate the barrier.
- planetguy 14y ago
  I'm not a radioastronomer, but I'm fairly sure that if I went next door and talked to one they'd laugh their heads off at the suggestion.
  - rogerbinns 14y ago
    Do they have any better explanations for the Fermi paradox then? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fermi_paradox http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fermi_paradox
    - planetguy 14y ago
      No, but they know how to estimate the effect of an inhomogeneity in the interstellar medium on radio wave propagation.
  - freehunter 14y ago
    Put your wireless router on top of a microwave then start a Skype call. Before your Hot Pocket turns molten, let me know how good of a connection you have. It's not a far stretch of the imagination to say radio waves can suffer from interference and even reflection off magnetic fields. It happens here on Earth; bouncing shortwave off the ionosphere is a very common way to communicate long distances. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skywave https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skywave
    - eternauta3k 14y ago
      How is ionospheric reflection related to your claim?
      - freehunter 14y ago
        Signals bouncing off a strongly magnetic bubble. The microwave was a separate but related example of electromagnetic interference on radio transmissions. Both combined paint a picture showing it's possible we might not hear from Voyager again and might not get a good picture of intelligent transmissions outside the heliosphere.

by parfe 14y ago

freehunter 14y ago

Well the speculation I mentioned did say something to the effect of "almost all". The possibility it sparked in my mind was that outer space is very very noisy and we only receive a very small sample of radio frequencies which happen to penetrate the barrier.

planetguy 14y ago
I'm not a radioastronomer, but I'm fairly sure that if I went next door and talked to one they'd laugh their heads off at the suggestion.
- rogerbinns 14y ago
  Do they have any better explanations for the Fermi paradox then? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fermi_paradox http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fermi_paradox
  - planetguy 14y ago
    No, but they know how to estimate the effect of an inhomogeneity in the interstellar medium on radio wave propagation.
- freehunter 14y ago
  Put your wireless router on top of a microwave then start a Skype call. Before your Hot Pocket turns molten, let me know how good of a connection you have. It's not a far stretch of the imagination to say radio waves can suffer from interference and even reflection off magnetic fields. It happens here on Earth; bouncing shortwave off the ionosphere is a very common way to communicate long distances. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skywave https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skywave
  - eternauta3k 14y ago
    How is ionospheric reflection related to your claim?
    - freehunter 14y ago
      Signals bouncing off a strongly magnetic bubble. The microwave was a separate but related example of electromagnetic interference on radio transmissions. Both combined paint a picture showing it's possible we might not hear from Voyager again and might not get a good picture of intelligent transmissions outside the heliosphere.