Abstract

The detection of life beyond Earth is an ongoing scientific pursuit, with profound implications. One approach, known as the search for extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI), seeks to find engineered signals (‘technosignatures’) that indicate the existence of technologically capable life beyond Earth. Here, we report on the detection of a narrowband signal of interest at ~982 MHz, recorded during observations towards Proxima Centauri with the Parkes Murriyang radio telescope. This signal, BLC1, has characteristics broadly consistent with hypothesized technosignatures and is one of the most compelling candidates to date. Analysis of BLC1—which we ultimately attribute to being an unusual but locally generated form of interference—is provided in a companion paper. Nevertheless, our observations of Proxima Centauri are a particularly sensitive search for radio technosignatures towards a stellar target.

Highlights

  • The discovery of the exoplanet Proxima Centauri b (Prox Cen b) in orbit around Prox Cen[1] has sparked excitement over the prospect of a habitable exoplanet in the nearest reaches of the solar neighbourhood

  • Because Prox Cen is an active M-dwarf flare star, doubt has been cast on the ability of Prox Cen b, which is in a much tighter orbit than Earth is to the Sun, to retain an atmosphere amenable to the existence of biological life

  • A naked-eye visible superflare strong enough to kill any known organisms has been observed from Prox Cen[5], life could still exist on the cold side of a tidally locked planet

Read more

Summary

Introduction

The discovery of the exoplanet Proxima Centauri b (Prox Cen b) in orbit around Prox Cen[1] has sparked excitement over the prospect of a habitable exoplanet in the nearest reaches of the solar neighbourhood. In this Article, we present a search for technosignatures from the direction of Prox Cen, using the CSIRO Parkes radio telescope (‘Murriyang’) as part of the Breakthrough Listen (BL) and the Breakthrough Initiatives search for life beyond Earth. We searched our observations towards Prox Cen for signs of technologically advanced life, across the full frequency range of the receiver (0.7–4.0 GHz).

Results
Conclusion
Full Text
Paper version not known

Talk to us

Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have

Schedule a call

Disclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.