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Space Communications

Astronomers Detect 15 Atypical Signals From Distant Galaxy (www.cbc.ca) 46

Posted by BeauHD from the mysteries-of-the-universe dept.
Freshly Exhumed writes: Researchers using the Green Bank Telescope in West Virginia have announced in the Astronomers Telegram that they have detected 15 fast radio bursts -- poorly understood phenomena that are milliseconds-long pulses of radio emission believed to be coming from rapidly spinning neutron stars or black holes in distant galaxies. Of note is their frequency range, seen to be well above typical phenomena. In particular, fast radio burst (FRB) 121102, discovered by a McGill University researcher in 2016, is the only known one to be repeating, an observation that is quite challenging for theorists and dreamers alike.
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Astronomers Detect 15 Atypical Signals From Distant Galaxy More

Astronomers Detect 15 Atypical Signals From Distant Galaxy

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  • Can't be aliens (Score:3)

    by MichaelSmith ( 789609 ) on Saturday September 02, 2017 @03:10AM (#55127793) Homepage Journal

    Because fast radio bursts come from all over the sky and are sent from billions of light years away. Different groups of aliens would have to be sending us messages without the ability to coordinate with each other and schedule their transmissions because they are twice as far away from each other than they are from us.

    • It's MorningLightMountain. We are utterly screwed.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by wjcofkc ( 964165 )
      Who says they are trying contacting us? If it is communication, perhaps those who developed the system have evolved extreme patience. Perhaps their perception of time is different then ours. All that said, I am betting on natural phenomenon. Something dramatic. It's like Tabby's Star. While it would be really cool to verify that it is an engineering effort causing the light dips, at this point the observations are so bizarre, a natural explanation while likely turn out to be something remarkable. When it co

    • Re:Can't be aliens (Score:5, Informative)

      by hey! ( 33014 ) on Saturday September 02, 2017 @08:00AM (#55128201) Homepage Journal

      You're assuming that if we see radio bursts from point A and point B 180 degrees apart it's A and B exchanging messages. It could be one set of aliens at A communicating with another set near A, and we're just catching some stray signals. B could be another unconnected civilization; or it could be a different, natural phenomenon that emits radio bursts.

      So I don't think we can say it can't be aliens. But I think the fact we can't explain some unusual signal is weak evidence for aliens, because statistically unusual events are inevitable if you run enough trials. If you flip a coin enough times you'll get a run of a hundred heads. If you comb the entire sky with enough precision and for long enough you will find startling signals.

      If intelligent life is a natural phenomenon, looking for signals from a civilization is simply looking for a particular statistically rare event. I suspect we'll eventually find what we're looking for, but the challenge will be confirming we're looking at that particular kind of event and not some other rare event.

      The situation we're in is like being a blind man searching for a needle in a haystack. Eventually we get our finger pricked. It's exciting, but it's not anything close to proof until we've eliminated other pointy things, like thorns.

      • It could be one set of aliens at A communicating with another set near A, and we're just catching some stray signals.

        The notion that a civilization capable of communicating with power so many orders of magnitude beyond ours is not capable of sending a focused beam is absurd.

    • meh, as an avid scifi reader this one is easy to field. The aliens are using quantum communications to talk to each other. They are obviously part of a vast empire that has ruled the galaxy for eons. In this case they are sending out signals to ensnare young civilizations into responding to the messages. That way they can easily find any potential species that may later become upstarts and challenge the hegemony. Not to worry though, we are not yet sophisticated enough te even read the messages let alo

    • This is our chance!

      A "(hu)man in the middle" attack!

    • Re: (Score:1)

      by mikkig ( 5072653 )
      If anyone thinks we are the only life in any galaxy, then you need help!

      • Its not looking good. Our telescopes are getting better all the time but we are only seeing natural phenomena. There is no evidence of radio transmissions from other stars. Our solar system is pristine. There is no evidence of old probes, or debris left by explorers. I have been following SETI for almost 40 years now, and my gut feeling is that if there was intelligence out there we would have seen some sign of it by now.

  • 3 billion light years away (Score:2, Insightful)

    by Anonymous Coward

    These beings are 3 billion light years away, so it will take 6 billion years to have a conversation with them.

    Worst alien life detection ever.

    • Wrong. It'll take 6 billion years just to *begin* the conversation:

      THEM (3 billion years ago): Hi!

      US (now): Hi!

      THEM (3 billion years from now): So... Come to this galactic supercluster often?

      • It's going to be a very short conversation because the sun is going to die before we get our first reply. In addition, they probably don't have much to say because their first message was directed towards some newly evolved algae.
  • Meaning these signals originated a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away.
  • How old is the time when the signal was sent (that is: how far is the sender)?

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