Just a few days after Harvard University researchers suggested that aliens may have sent a probe into our solar system, new research out of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology suggests that we may soon be able to signal our presence to extraterrestrials by using a high-powered laser beam.
No, this isn’t a pitch for a sci-fi movie. Rather, it was the basis of a “feasibility study” conducted by MIT graduate student James Clark, which found that by using existing and imminent technology, humans could, in principle, fashion a laser and a telescope into a beacon that would send out a powerful blast of radiation showing aliens that we are, in fact, here, Clark said.
The study, published Sunday in The Astrophysical Journal, claims that if humans were to shine a 1- to 2-megawatt laser through a 30- to 45-meter telescope and point it toward space, the infrared radiation beam produced would be strong enough for other intelligent life in the universe to recognize it as distinct from that of the sun, Clark said.
This hypothetical signal from Earth would be detected by extraterrestrial space observers — if they’re out there — as they scan our section of the Milky Way.
The most likely witnesses of the beacon would be “alien astronomers” from an exoplanet orbiting Proxima Centauri, the star closest to Earth (not including the sun) at a mere 4.25 light years away, Clark said.
Other viewers might be found in TRAPPIST-1, a planetary system 39 light-years away that includes three exoplanets that scientists think could be habitable, according to a statement from MIT about Clark’s study. The laser could be visible as far as 20,000 light-years away from earth, the study estimates.
“We can’t put as much power as the sun produces into a laser — that’s just not practical — but a laser produces all of its power in one wavelength, a very narrow part of the spectrum, so the way that it’s detectable is not that it’s more powerful than the sun, but that it’s very distinct from the sun,” Clark said. “If alien astronomers were looking at the sun, the spectrum of the sun would gain a little spike in it.”
Clark’s study shows that building this magnified laser is possible and that it could serve as a signal to alien life.
That doesn’t necessarily mean it should be done, he said.
“Should we be attracting extraterrestrial attention? I established that we can, but that doesn’t mean it’s a good idea,” Clark said. “Whether it’s a good idea or not is an exercise for future work.”
Baada ya watafiti wa Chuo Kikuu cha Harvard kugundua kuwa aliens wametuma chombo cha uchunguzi kwenye mfumo wetu wa jua, utafiti mpya kutoka Taasisi ya Teknolojia ya Massachusetts unaonyesha kwamba hivi karibuni tunaweza kuwa na uwezo wa kuashiria uwepo wetu kwa wageni kwa kutumia nyuzi za laser zenye nguvu. Hapana, hii si pitch kwa ajili ya filamu ya sayansi ya uwongo. "Kama ilivyoelezwa, utafiti uliofanywa na mwanafunzi wa MIT James Clark uligundua kwamba kwa kutumia teknolojia iliyopo na ya hivi karibuni, wanadamu wanaweza, kwa kanuni, kuunda laser na darubini katika beacon ambayo itatuma mlipuko mkubwa wa mnururisho unaoonyesha wageni kwamba sisi ni, kwa kweli, hapa. """ "Kuchunguza kwa utafiti huo, uliochapishwa Jumapili katika jarida la The Astrophysical Journal, unadai kwamba ikiwa wanadamu wangepiga laser ya megawatt 1 hadi 2 kupitia darubini ya mita 30 hadi 45 na kuielekeza kuelekea anga, mkanda wa mnururisho wa infrared uliotokezwa ungekuwa na nguvu ya kutosha kwa maisha mengine ya akili katika ulimwengu kutambua kuwa tofauti na ile ya jua. """ Ishara hii ya nadharia kutoka Dunia ingegunduliwa na watazamaji wa anga za nje ya dunia - ikiwa wako huko nje - wanaposoma sehemu yetu ya Mfereji wa Maziwa. "Washuhuda wa uwezekano mkubwa wa beacon itakuwa ""astronomia mgeni"" kutoka exoplanet orbiting Proxima Centauri, nyota karibu na Dunia (si pamoja na jua) katika tu 4.25 miaka ya mwanga mbali, ""Clark alisema." "Kama ilivyoelezwa katika taarifa ya MIT, TRAPPIST-1 ni mfumo wa sayari ulio umbali wa miaka 39 ya mwanga na unaojumuisha sayari tatu za nje ya dunia ambazo wanasayansi wanafikiri zinaweza kuwa na makazi, ""alisema." Laser hiyo inaweza kuonekana hadi umbali wa miaka 20,000 ya mwanga kutoka duniani, kulingana na utafiti huo. "Hatuwezi kuweka nguvu nyingi kama jua inazalisha katika laser - hiyo ni tu si vitendo - lakini laser inazalisha nguvu yake yote katika urefu mmoja wa wimbi, sehemu nyembamba sana ya wigo, hivyo njia ambayo ni detectable si kwamba ni nguvu zaidi kuliko jua, lakini kwamba ni tofauti sana kutoka jua, ""Clark alisema." "Ikiwa wataalamu wa nyota wa kigeni wangekuwa wakitazama jua, wigo wa jua ungeongezeka kidogo, ""Clark anaonyesha utafiti unaonyesha kuwa kujenga laser hii iliyoongezwa inawezekana na inaweza kutumika kama ishara ya maisha ya kigeni." Hiyo haimaanishi lazima ifanywe, alisema. Je, tunapaswa kuvutia uangalifu wa viumbe wa nje ya dunia? Nilianzisha kwamba tunaweza, lakini hiyo haina maana ni wazo nzuri, "Clark alisema. <unk>Je, ni wazo nzuri au si ni zoezi kwa ajili ya kazi ya baadaye.<unk>