by Arpa C
Astronomers at the prestigious and coveted Breakthrough Listen Project recently spotted a strange radio signal aimed at the Earth. According to an article by The Guardian, this narrow beam came from the direction of Proxima Centauri, which is the nearest star to the Sun.
The scientists are at present studying this mysterious signal and preparing a special research paper for the Breakthrough Listen. This organisation tries to find out about the possible alien lives in the universe and in the milky way galaxy.
The breakthrough signal project is dedicated to finding alien life and is funded by Yuri Miller. Miller is a science and tech investor who started this ambitious project in 2015 to catch the radio signals from the closest stars of the sun in hopes of connecting to the alien lives and other intelligent space beings like humans.
The nature of the discovered signal
According to The Guardian, this radio signal is a narrow beam with a frequency of 980 MHz. The shift in the signal also comes with the movement of a planet. Hence, scientists are trying to find if this signal was sent by intelligent alien life.
Pet Worden, who is the present director of the Breakthrough Initiatives, gave an interview to the above-mentioned media outlet on this matter. He said that the breakthrough team had detected many mysterious signals aimed towards earth. They require further study to find their meaning. It was detected coming from the Proxima Centauri solar system which is situated at a distance of 4.243 lightyears from the earth.
What is Proxima Centauri, and can it hold life forms?
The Proxima Centauri is the closest star to the solar system. It has always been a popular choice of study among astronomers. Till now, scientists have found at least two planets that orbit around this star. Among these, there is a gas giant planet like Jupiter. Another one is called Proxima B. This Proxima B is an earth-like planet with nearly 17% more mass than earth. It lies in the temperature range’s habitable zone and may have all the possible qualities to allow water flow on its surface.
But, this planet is not quite habitable. The Guardian also reported that in 2017, NASA scientists displayed that even if it has an earth-like environment, the intense radiation of Proxima Centauri can cause the atmosphere to get destroyed. Additionally, this planet is also closer to its parent star and may not have such a habitable environment. So, an alien radio signal coming just from 4.243 lightyears distance can be quite interesting and astonishing