If we do ever demonstrate the existence of sentient life beyond our solar system the story will start out very similar to this one.
http://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2015/10/the-most-interesting-star-in-our-galaxy/410023/
Edited by TasteTheRainbowNice! Thanks for sharing the interesting read.
They are out there. They have to be.
The 150,000 stars we have so far given only the barest preliminary scrutiny, amounts to less than a thousandth of a percent of all the stars in the Milky Way Galaxy (Approximately 100 Billion stars).
Getting rid of a few zeros to keep the ratio, but make the numbers more manageable, that's like saying you've examined 15 people out 100,000, and found one of them to be significantly different than the (very few) others you've looked at. The fact that we managed to see something like that in such a small sample, suggests not that it is extremely rare, but rather that it is common enough. Think it through - for something at all to show up after examining less than 1/1000th of a percent of the stars in this galaxy alone, suggests that there ought to be millions of stars just like this one in this galaxy alone.
Given how little we know about the whole of our galaxy, the odds are much better that this is just as as yet unexplained naturally occurring somewhat "rare" (but not overly so) phenomenon. I expect that when we've examined another few hundred thousand stars, we'll see a couple more like this.
I think seeing a couple more would reduce the chance that this is natural based on the paper they wrote. Unless there is something extremely wrong with our understanding of gravity and star evolution then only insanely rare events could cause this. Seeing more insanely rare events would probably just make the non-natural explanations the better explanations.
Until SETI takes a listen and the non-natural explanation paper comes out I don't think we can say too much of anything.
Edited by TasteTheRainbow****. That's working toward a Type II Kardashev civilization. Serious stuff, and kinda scary how much more advanced they would be than us to produce observably light-blocking structures.
****. That's working toward a Type II Kardashev civilization. Serious stuff, and kinda scary how much more advanced they would be than us to produce observably light-blocking structures.
So advanced that it would be ludicrous to think they don't know about us, IMO.
****. That's working toward a Type II Kardashev civilization. Serious stuff, and kinda scary how much more advanced they would be than us to produce observably light-blocking structures.
So advanced that it would be ludicrous to think they don't know about us, IMO.
Do we produce observable from the same distance light blocking structures? If they don't have reason to look at us why would they?
****. That's working toward a Type II Kardashev civilization. Serious stuff, and kinda scary how much more advanced they would be than us to produce observably light-blocking structures.
So advanced that it would be ludicrous to think they don't know about us, IMO.
Do we produce observable from the same distance light blocking structures? If they don't have reason to look at us why would they?
Considering how long the light takes to get here to be observed...
Personally, I'm with Hawking and think trying to make contact with aliens is a bad idea. If they can get here from across the galaxy, we are the ant and they are the boot.
Do we produce observable from the same distance light blocking structures? If they don't have reason to look at us why would they?****. That's working toward a Type II Kardashev civilization. Serious stuff, and kinda scary how much more advanced they would be than us to produce observably light-blocking structures.
So advanced that it would be ludicrous to think they don't know about us, IMO.
The story has been picked up by the AP and everyone under the sun now and the quality of reporting is already dropping.
Prepare for hype!
It's obviously the Alderaan system.
It's obviously the Alderaan system.
That's no moon...
Phil Plait write-up is better. Added to first post.
Some details about follow-up investigations to rule out/in various explanations from popsci:
http://www.popsci.com/alien-megastructures-how-astronomers-plan-to-investigate
It doesn't give a timeframe for spectroscopy, which is frustrating.
Edited by TasteTheRainbowIn the paper, the x-axis was in days, but I suspect that's not what you're talking about. Can astronomers use the "wobble method" on a planet like this? It would be pretty interesting if there was no apparent wobble, because it would indicate that the giant-ass object that can block a fifth of a star's output wasn't massive enough to mess up the orbit. That suggests flat, which really suggests artificial.
Just playing with the aliens idea, I like the idea that it's just an intentionally weird thing thing built by some alien civilization to attract attention. So it's either some monument or a big waving flag saying "come over here and check this out."
That's a good point about wobble. I'm sure there's a reason it hasn't been mentioned. If the star has a lot of stuff around it though it might have little wobble if it's balanced. That works for natural and unnatural.
Edited by TasteTheRainbowTrue. I really have no idea about the requirements and limitations of any of the planet detection methods.
http://www.seti.org/seti-institute/mysterious-star-kic-8462852
The Mysterious Star KIC 8462852 | SETI Institute
The SETI Institute is following up on the possibility that the stellar system KIC 8462852 might be home to an advanced civilization.
This star, slightly brighter than the Sun and more than 1400 light-years away, has been the subject of scrutiny by NASA’s Kepler space telescope. It has shown some surprising behavior that’s odd even by the generous standards of cosmic phenomena. KIC 8462852 occasionally dims by as much as 20 percent, suggesting that there is some material in orbit around this star that blocks its light.
For various reasons, it’s obvious that this material is not simply a planet. A favored suggestion is that it is debris from comets that have been drawn into relatively close orbit to the star.
But another, and obviously intriguing, possibility is that this star is home to a technologically sophisticated society that has constructed a phalanx of orbiting solar panels (a so-called Dyson swarm) that block light from the star.
To investigate this idea, we have been using the Allen Telescope Array to search for non-natural radio signals from the direction of KIC 8462852. This effort is looking for both narrow-band signals (similar to traditional SETI experiments) as well as somewhat broader transmissions that might be produced, for example, by powerful spacecraft.
ATA
But what if ET isn’t signaling at radio frequencies? Our ATA observations are being augmented by a search for brief but powerful laser pulses. These observations are being conducted by the Boquete Optical SETI Observatory in Panama, part of a nascent global network of optical SETI observatories.
Both the observations and the data analysis are now underway. Once the latter is concluded, we will, of course, make them known here and in the professional journals.
On the basis of historical precedent, it’s most likely that the the dimming of KIC 8462852 is due to natural causes. But in the search for extraterrestrial intelligence, any suggestive clues should, of course, be further investigated – and that is what the SETI Institute is now doing.
Dr. Seth Shostak, Senior Astronomer
Edited by TasteTheRainbowPlease do not try and communicate with them. It likely will not end well for us.
Please do not try and communicate with them. It likely will not end well for us.
2800 year lag. Should be able to get ready.
Please do not try and communicate with them. It likely will not end well for us.
2800 year lag. Should be able to get ready.
Not if they're already a couple thousand years ahead of us.
The shadow in the warp! THE SHADOW IN THE WARP! The Great Devourer comes!
Aiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiieeeeee.
Not if they're already a couple thousand years ahead of us.Please do not try and communicate with them. It likely will not end well for us.
2800 year lag. Should be able to get ready.
They would be millions of years ahead of us. It would be an astronomical coincidence if we ever meet another civilization that has only been around for a few thousand years.
No aliens would ever care about us unless they have some need to talk to beings who would be ants, or they have an overdeveloped sense of compassion for lower life forms. But then aliens are alien, and they are bound to have inscrutable motivations for their actions.
Here's hoping we've made it past the Great Filter already, otherwise we still have a way to go before we prove we can actually move out into the Galaxy.
https://xkcd.com/1377/Not if they're already a couple thousand years ahead of us.Please do not try and communicate with them. It likely will not end well for us.
2800 year lag. Should be able to get ready.
They would be millions of years ahead of us. It would be an astronomical coincidence if we ever meet another civilization that has only been around for a few thousand years.
No aliens would ever care about us unless they have some need to talk to beings who would be ants, or they have an overdeveloped sense of compassion for lower life forms. But then aliens are alien, and they are bound to have inscrutable motivations for their actions.
Here's hoping we've made it past the Great Filter already, otherwise we still have a way to go before we prove we can actually move out into the Galaxy.