https://www.livescience.com/proxima-centauri-mystery-radio-beam.html
CSIRO's Parkes radio telescope, also called The Dish, located in Australia.
(Image: © CSIRO/A. Cherney)
Astronomers hunting for radio signals from alien civilizations have detected an "intriguing signal" from the direction of Proxima Centauri, the nearest star system to the sun, The Guardian reported.
The researchers are still preparing a paper on the discovery, and the data has not been made public, according to The Guardian. But the signal is reportedly a narrow beam of 980 MHz radio waves detected in April and May 2019 at the Parkes telescope in Australia. The Parkes telescope is part of the $100 million Breakthrough Listen project to hunt for radio signals from technological sources beyond the solar system. The 980 MHz signal appeared once and was never detected again. That frequency is important because, as Scientific American points out, that band of radio waves is typically lacking signals from human-made craft and satellites.
Breakthrough Listen detects unusual radio signals all the time — between Earthly sources, the sun's natural radio output and natural sources beyond the solar system, there are a lot of radio waves bouncing around out there. But this signal appears to have come directly from the Proxima Centauri system, just 4.2 light-years from Earth. Even more tantalizing: The signal reportedly shifted slightly while it was being observed, in a way that resembled the shift caused by the movement of a planet. Proxima Centauri has one known rocky world 17% larger than Earth, and one known gas giant.
more at link.....................
CSIRO's Parkes radio telescope, also called The Dish, located in Australia.
(Image: © CSIRO/A. Cherney)
Astronomers hunting for radio signals from alien civilizations have detected an "intriguing signal" from the direction of Proxima Centauri, the nearest star system to the sun, The Guardian reported.
The researchers are still preparing a paper on the discovery, and the data has not been made public, according to The Guardian. But the signal is reportedly a narrow beam of 980 MHz radio waves detected in April and May 2019 at the Parkes telescope in Australia. The Parkes telescope is part of the $100 million Breakthrough Listen project to hunt for radio signals from technological sources beyond the solar system. The 980 MHz signal appeared once and was never detected again. That frequency is important because, as Scientific American points out, that band of radio waves is typically lacking signals from human-made craft and satellites.
Breakthrough Listen detects unusual radio signals all the time — between Earthly sources, the sun's natural radio output and natural sources beyond the solar system, there are a lot of radio waves bouncing around out there. But this signal appears to have come directly from the Proxima Centauri system, just 4.2 light-years from Earth. Even more tantalizing: The signal reportedly shifted slightly while it was being observed, in a way that resembled the shift caused by the movement of a planet. Proxima Centauri has one known rocky world 17% larger than Earth, and one known gas giant.
more at link.....................
