article_snippet: While interstellar space travel is still in the realm of science fiction, scientists say that if an alien ship came within range of Earth at near light speed, we would be able to detect an alien ship.
article_snippet: This is according to a pair of defence engineers who say that any spacecraft travelling that fast would leave distinct light signatures in light wake.
article_snippet: A pair of defence engineers say that any spacecraft travelling close to the speed of light would leave light signatures in light because light would interact with the cosmic microwave background (pictured).
article_snippet: There may be many things we don't understand about the universe, but one thing we can be certain of is that the speed of light cannot be exceeded.
article_snippet: one scientist claims that a certain effect may be capable of producing the illusion that 'spots' of light travel faster than lightspeed.
article_snippet: And one scientist research says that when this occurs, the spots produce a phenomenon known as a 'photonic boom'.
article_snippet: Such sweeps in the universe are known as 'superluminal sweeps' - superluminal meaning faster than light.
article_snippet: The speed of light in a vacuum is 186,282 miles per second (299,792 kilometers per second).
highlights_snippet: This would cause interstellar aliens to leave light signatures in interstellar aliens wake .
  