Photo: Recording of the signal received from the constellation Sagittarius in 1977
Scientists decided to respond 35 years later, after they received a signal from the constellation Sagittarius.
If someone is impatient to say something to brothers in mind, then please: scientists give a chance. Any inhabitant of the Earth can use it. And take part in the upcoming communication session. To do this, you need to write on Twitter with the hashtag ChasingUFOs and your news (no more than 140 characters) will be included in the message. Astronomers will encode the "final document" in binary and send it into space using the giant radio telescope at the Arecibo Observatory. Aliens will receive tweets compiled from Friday June 29 to Saturday June 30 (between 8 pm EDT Friday (June 29) and 3 am EDT Saturday (June 30).
Actually, the communication session itself, organized at the initiative of the National Geographic Channel, will take place on August 15, 2012 - exactly 35 years later, after the mysterious radio signal from the constellation Sagittarius was received on Earth. It is not at all excluded that it was sent by aliens. Even serious scientists do not deny this possibility. Not to mention the ufologists, who will celebrate their professional holiday on July 4, the International Day of the Ufologist, and, of course, those astronomers who work on the Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence (SETI) program - the search for intelligent life in the Universe. Humanity has sent radio signals with various messages into space before. But it turns out that it was only now that it decided to answer precisely those who called. The dispatch containing the received tweetswill target the constellation Sagittarius - the very point from which the radio signal came in 1977. In the hope that someone is still there.
Wow! signal
On August 15, 1977, something really incredible happened. Dr. Jerry Ehman, working on the SETI project on the Big Ear radio observatory at Ohio State University, recorded a long and strong radio signal, which in all respects corresponded to what the doctor was looking for - signals of artificial origin.
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The Russian astronomer, of course, would have put it differently. But the shocked American doctor who saw the sensational data exclaimed "Wow!" After that, the name “Wow! signal "and not any other.
35 years have passed. But the secret “Wow! signal could not be expanded. No reasonable explanation emerged. Astronomers have not proposed a single candidate for a signal source of natural - natural - origin. As a result, there are enough people who believe that the signal was sent from an alien ship. Since he came from the region of the constellation Sagittarius, but from an empty section of the sky. However, there are no other interpretations. At least those that would explain all the features of the transfer.
The signal was 30 times stronger than the background. Its frequency was 1.42 gigahertz - this is the frequency of hydrogen - the one at which, in fact, scientists have been waiting and waiting for extraterrestrial news. Duration - 72 seconds. This is exactly the same amount that should have been observed with a constant amplitude extraterrestrial signal of artificial origin. After all, the antenna of the Big Ear radio telescope is stationary - it uses the rotation of the Earth to scan the sky. Therefore, you can listen to a specific source for 72 seconds. Of these, half the time the signal intensity should be smoothly increasing - until the telescope accurately targets the transmitter. In the remaining 36 seconds, gradually decrease. Which was recorded.
The signal was caught only once.
Space Twitter
The idea of using Twitter to compose a message to aliens looks very symbolic against the background of fresh ideas expressed by scientists working on the program.
SETI. After all, as James Benford and his twin brother Gregory, researchers from the University of California, believe, brothers in mind most likely have their own Twitter.
The current principle of searching for extraterrestrial civilizations is based on the idea that "brothers" are constantly sending signals - "to all ends," as they say. They broadcast around the clock. Like the radio "Komsomolskaya Pravda". Globally, this is normal. But in the galactic it is insanely expensive. It requires colossal energy consumption - several gigawatts per gear. This is very wasteful.
Scientists explain that if aliens make themselves known to their neighbors, then they send short messages - like those that people leave on the social network Twitter.
According to the Benford brothers, humanity could simply have missed a lot of such signals. And if you catch one, it is purely by accident. Like, for example, the same “Wow! signal.
The Benfords urge radio astronomers to rummage through the archives. Look for short signals. And not necessarily at the hydrogen frequency.
Scientists assure that "impulses" at a frequency of about 10 Gigahertz will require much less energy. According to their calculations, having an antenna with a diameter of 900 meters, a civilization comparable to ours in terms of technical level could afford to “flash” the Milky Way once a year with a series of signals with a total duration of several tens of seconds. It is this space Twitter that you need to aim for when looking for brothers in mind. In the meantime, humanity decided to "flash".
WARNING
We'd better be silent
The famous British astrophysicist Stephen Hawking does not welcome the efforts of his colleagues eager to get in touch with other civilizations. In his opinion, one should sit quietly and not attract the attention of "outsiders" with his signals.
“If aliens ever appear here, it can be compared to the arrival of Christopher Columbus in America. And then for the Indians, everything somehow did not work out very well, ” he explains his position. And adds:
- The desire to rob us is one of the reasons why you should not come into contact with alien races. It seems to me that they can live in huge ships, since they have exhausted all the natural resources of their planet. Such aliens are at a very high level of development and begin to roam in order to capture any suitable planet.
SETI Director Seth Shostak thinks it's too late to hide. The fact that we exist is known in space with a diameter of 240 light years. It is such a “bubble” that was formed by radio waves from the Earth, which have been spreading since the beginning of the broadcasting era. They “washed” over 6 thousand star systems. And every day the signals of human civilization reach at least one new system.
It is unlikely that aliens - even the most advanced ones - listen to Earth radio or watch our television. With distance, "broadcasting" is greatly distorted. But they can recognize an artificial source in it and detect its coordinates. According to the scientist, the technology, which has outstripped the human one by one or two hundred years, is capable of this. Even if installed on a planet 1,000 light years away.
In other words, we have already given away our location and we will continue to give out, even "after being silent." Could they have spotted us? Quite. Moreover, it is possible that the so-called brothers are already flying to us. Silently, so as not to betray himself. Approaching. Maybe even on the same starship that Wow! signal from the side of the constellation Sagittarius.