Irish and Swedish Astrophysicists Embark on a Revolutionary Search for Extraterrestrial Life
Irish and Swedish astrophysicists are set to scan millions of stars in the coming years, in the pursuit of signs of extraterrestrial life. Astronomers have been in pursuit of “Extraterrestrial Intelligence” (ET) for decades, with no success to date. In 2000, NASA launched the most renowned project focused on finding (intelligent) extraterrestrial life: SETI (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence). This project operates massive radio telescopes that continually “listen” on frequencies between 1 and 10 GHz in hopes of picking up a signal clearly originating from an extraterrestrial civilization, thereby providing evidence of the existence of extraterrestrial life.
The Swedish and Irish scientists are adopting a different approach. With the Irish LOFAR radio telescope and the Swedish LOFAR radio telescope at Onsala coming together to form a multi-telescope, they can focus on lower frequencies of 110 to 190 MHz. This ability to broaden the search increases the chance of the ‘First Contact.’ It also reduces the possibility of a false-positive result where the ‘alien’ signal is triggered by human activity on Earth, such as pilots communicating with air traffic control.
Exploring the Galaxies
In a paper published in The Astrophysical Journal, the research team shared more about the ongoing search. So far, 1.6 million star systems have been scanned without success. However, the quest has only just begun. Other telescopes across Europe are being adjusted to search broader frequency ranges between 15 and 240 MHz. “We have billions of star systems to explore, and we’re using machine learning techniques to process the immense dataset,” reveals PhD Candidate Owen Johnson from Trinity’s School of Physics. “It would be quite ironic if extraterrestrial life were discovered through the use of artificial intelligence.” The data from Onsala’s LOFAR telescope is processed by a supercomputer at an undisclosed location.
The Drake Equation
Will the Swedish and Irish astrophysicists succeed in their mission? It’s a bold effort, but we must be realistic: no one knows how many intelligent alien civilizations exist. In 1961, radio astronomer Frank Drake proposed a famous mathematical equation to estimate the number of intelligent civilizations in our Milky Way galaxy capable of communicating with us via radio. Most of the factors in this Drake equation remain unknown, such as the number of planets that develop intelligent life and the average lifespan of communicating civilizations in years. A conservative interpretation of the formula by scientists estimates more than thirty intelligent communicating civilizations in our Milky Way. However, what if silence prevails? Does that make us unique? Or do these intelligent civilizations hide in another spiral arm of our galaxy? Feel free to join the discussion below this article!
