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you think aliens could have found signals from us ?
much of a chance do you think there is that we ’ ll find a signal in the next 10 years ?
do you think the public would react if you announced a found signal ?
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you think aliens could have found signals from us ?
COURTESY OF Seth Shostak
It ’ s certainly possible , at least if they ’ re close enough . AM radio signals are bent by the Earth ’ s ionosphere , so they don ’ t really make it into space . But beginning about the time of the Second World War , we started transmitting FM radio , television and radar . For our own purposes , of course , but these signals have now traveled about 70 light-years into space , and there are roughly 15,000 star systems within that distance . So if they have some big receiving antennas , and are on planets around those systems , they could know that we ’ re here .
much of a chance do you think there is that we ’ ll find a signal in the next 10 years ?
I ’ ve bet everyone a cup of coffee that we ’ ll find a signal from E . T . within the next 20 years . The reason I ’ m optimistic is that the equipment is getting better all the time ( mainly due to the increased capability of computers ), and that speeds up the search . In the next two decades , we should be able to check out the neighborhoods of about one million star systems in our galaxy . I think that might be enough to find a signal , and if we do , I won ’ t have to buy all that coffee .
do you think the public would react if you announced a found signal ?
I don ’ t think they would go nuts . Rather , I believe that they would find it very interesting , and immediately would want to know more . For example , how far away are they ? Can we see their planet ? And eventually , could we figure out any of their signal ?
Sky ’ s Up