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posted by janrinok on Tuesday August 30 2016, @08:01PM   Printer-friendly
from the perhaps-they-ARE-out-there dept.

http://observer.com/2016/08/not-a-drill-seti-is-investigating-a-possible-extraterrestrial-signal-from-deep-space/

An international team of scientists from the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI) is investigating mysterious signal spikes emitting from a 6.3-billion-year-old star in the constellation Hercules—95 light years away from Earth. The implications are extraordinary and point to the possibility of a civilization far more advanced than our own.

The unusual signal was originally detected on May 15, 2015, by the Russian Academy of Science-operated RATAN-600 radio telescope in Zelenchukskaya, Russia, but was kept secret from the international community. Interstellar space reporter Paul Gilster broke the story after the researchers quietly circulated a paper announcing the detection of "a strong signal in the direction of HD164595."

The mysterious star's designation is HD164595, and it's considered to be sun-like in nature with a nearly identical metallic composition to our own star. So far, a single Neptune-like (but warmer) planet has been discovered in its orbit—HD 164595 b. But as Gilster explained, "There could, of course, be other planets still undetected in this system."


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  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday August 31 2016, @11:15AM

    by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday August 31 2016, @11:15AM (#395646)

    It just seems like such an utterly improbable coincidence that an alien civilization would decide one day (only) 95 years ago to start sending a signal our way.

    Probably just about as improbable as a third-rate human social network sending a high-powered signal specifically towards Gliese 581 on exactly 9 October 2008 [wikipedia.org].

  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday August 31 2016, @04:15PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday August 31 2016, @04:15PM (#395721)

    Even then, they're betting that the Gliese 581 c-ians have a technological civilization right now and they're hoping that they've got their ears pointed in this direction. If they're behind our progress even by a hundred years, they'll miss it no matter how much of an intriguing and high-minded culture they have. If they just happen to not have anything pointed at us while that signal was transmitted, it was a waste of time. It's already improbable that somebody over there will get the message.

    Let's assume they do receive it and have more than 6EQUJ5 [wikipedia.org] to show for it. (For all we know, the Wow! signal was something similar, but good luck figuring that out from the only record we have, a few intensity measurements.) Even then, who's going to be listening here in 2029? What if it takes a decade or two our time for them to decide to respond? Even if anybody is listening in 2029, how long before they lose interest and give up?

    There's really no point transmitting anything unless it can be done continuously at least on a scale of decades. The other civilization needs time to become aware of the signal so they may focus their best resources on receiving it in full detail.