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Scientists are currently investigating radio beams that seem to emanate from a mysterious star known as Proxima Centauri – the star closest to the sun. The researchers are working on the Breakthrough Listen Project, and they work to investigate possible signs of life in outer space.
The scientists said the radio signal was picked up by the Parkes telescope in Australia in April 2019 and should be investigated further since the beams coming from the star are consistent with the Wow! radio signal of 1977. It is also the “first serious candidate” since the Wow! A signal of 43 years ago discovered by astronomer Jerry Ehmen using the Big Ear Radio Observatory in Ohio.
Back in 1977, space scientists said the Wow! radio beam was 30 times stronger than normal background radiation and could only have come from beyond Earth in space. However, astronomers have published theories speculating that the Wow! signal could not have come from a planet containing life in space but probably from passing comets.
The Breakthrough Listen Project which caught the mysterious radio beam is a $100 million alien-hunting radio telescope established by Yuri Milner in 2015. The project was set up to investigate over one million stars that are closest to our Earth and to scan for radio signals from the 100 galaxies that are closest to us.
Famous physicist and cosmologist, Stephen Hawking, who died from long-term ALS in 2018 was at the Breakthrough Listen to launch at the Royal Society in London. He stated that the project would be beneficial for the purposes of investigating alien civilizations in worlds beyond our own.
“Mankind has a deep need to explore, to learn, to know,” Hawking had said. “We also happen to be sociable creatures. It is important for us to know if we are alone in the dark.”
Proxima Centauri is situated 4.2 billion light-years from Earth and speculated to contain life forms since it is located in a zone with a temperature that is suitable to live.
The scientists said the radio beam that is coming from outer space appears to be indicative of what could come from a planet and that they will devote more resources to understanding the exact source of the signal and to determine if it speaks of life in worlds beyond our own Earth.
Source: thehill.com
