The Most Mysterious Star in Our Galaxy (1 Viewer)

[NCCommish]

I would think that if they were advanced enough to build a Dyson sphere, they would be able to detect the radio waves we have been emitting and are already well aware of us.

We have been broadcasting in volume for less than a hundred years. The signals haven't gotten very far in the grand scheme of things.

Gotcha. So our radio waves are only a tenth of the way there.Would'nt we have detected their radio signals already then? Assuming they've been broadcasting for at least 1500-2000 years

Radio waves do not actually go very far in space. Well, I mean, they go far, but, they also dissipate according to the inverse square law. Going twice as far and you only have 1/4th the energy.

After a short distance from our solar system, our broadcasts are pretty much indistinguishable from the background noise. There just isn't enough power in the signal to get out that far and clear. Probably the same for any of their signals coming here.

Our modern digital signals also don't "leak" as much, so, the actual window for us to be discovered by another planet is almost closed... anything farther than 10 light years away couldn't detect our signal, and 10 years ago we stopped leaking out so much signal.

Pretty much. What SETI is predicated on is the idea that ET sent a focused and amplified signal this way after discovering this planet may support life. Just as we are finding exoplanets that have water vapor in the atmosphere we assume an advanced civilization has that capacity and we hope they want to chat us up.

 

[SaintsInDome2006]

Hey instead of searching out civilizations that harvest energy from the sun using exoskeletal space structures maybe we should just do that ourselves.

 

[Galileo]

Hey instead of searching out civilizations that harvest energy from the sun using exoskeletal space structures maybe we should just do that ourselves.

Such as civilization would be at the Type 2 stage of the Kardashev scale. We are still trying to figure out how to get to Type 1 status...http://www.fromquarkstoquasars.com/the-kardashev-scale-type-i-ii-iii-iv-v-civilization/

 

[Chemical X]

can someone explain this to me with a complex math equation?

 

[cstu]

Radio waves do not actually go very far in space. Well, I mean, they go far, but, they also dissipate according to the inverse square law. Going twice as far and you only have 1/4th the energy.

After a short distance from our solar system, our broadcasts are pretty much indistinguishable from the background noise. There just isn't enough power in the signal to get out that far and clear. Probably the same for any of their signals coming here.

Our modern digital signals also don't "leak" as much, so, the actual window for us to be discovered by another planet is almost closed... anything farther than 10 light years away couldn't detect our signal, and 10 years ago we stopped leaking out so much signal.

So Why Does SETI Bother To Listen To Radio Signals In Space?

how-far-in-space-our-radio-broadcasts-reach

Our Radio Bubble In The Milky Way

While no alien civilization is likely to pick up our television or radio broadcasts unless they’re within a few light-years, radio signals can be focused and amplified. Most of our broadcasts were not intended for detection in space. Radio signals can be aimed, focused and amplified to mitigate signal degradation for interstellar communication. These signals would also eventually degrade but are able to travel much, much further before degradation occurs. Hundreds of light-years or more depending on how much power is used.

It’s now becoming possible to detect the atmospheric composition of extrasolar planets. This breakthrough has allowed researchers to narrow down our hunt for earth-like worlds. It’s quite possible that an advanced alien culture can also do this, and detected an abundance of water in our atmosphere. If they have, they may have sent a focused radio message in our direction. If we’re not listening though, we may just miss it.

 

[Galileo]

can someone explain this to me with a complex math equation?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drake_equation

 

[Aerial Assault]

How far away is the star?

Also, with this dimming thing - the three things would have to be in a perfect line, correct? The last sentence of the article says that if something is there, they would see our star dim every 365 days. But that would only be the case if the Earth is exactly between the Sun and them. Given how small the Earth is compared to the Sun, and how far we are from it - that's a very slim chance, right?

No. If they can see the Sun, they can see dots crossing its face at regular intervals. The size disparity between the Earth and the Sun and the closeness of the two relative to their position mean that unless our orbit was seriously elliptical, they could see effectively every crossing.

 

[jamny]

Debris field

 

[Hoh]

There are those who believe that life here, began out there.

 

[Brony]

There are those who believe that life here, began out there.

this always feels so lazy to me... "I can't explain how life started here, so it must have come from somewhere else. Now don't ask me to explain how it started somewhere else, just trust me that it wasn't started here."

 

[cstu]

There are those who believe that life here, began out there.

this always feels so lazy to me... "I can't explain how life started here, so it must have come from somewhere else. Now don't ask me to explain how it started somewhere else, just trust me that it wasn't started here."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Q9P-Y6AgO4

 

[Dickies]

There are those who believe that life here, began out there.

this always feels so lazy to me... "I can't explain how life started here, so it must have come from somewhere else. Now don't ask me to explain how it started somewhere else, just trust me that it wasn't started here."

Not as lazy as the Bible

 

[Galileo]

There are those who believe that life here, began out there.

this always feels so lazy to me... "I can't explain how life started here, so it must have come from somewhere else. Now don't ask me to explain how it started somewhere else, just trust me that it wasn't started here."

Not as lazy as the Bible

To say think that life didn't begin here is not an attempt to explain how it started. Whether it began elsewhere or here on earth without some extraterrestrial seed requires seeking answers to the same biochemical questions.

 

[Hoh]

There are those who believe that life here, began out there.

this always feels so lazy to me... "I can't explain how life started here, so it must have come from somewhere else. Now don't ask me to explain how it started somewhere else, just trust me that it wasn't started here."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Q9P-Y6AgO4

This guy gets it

 

[tommyboy]

Hey instead of searching out civilizations that harvest energy from the sun using exoskeletal space structures maybe we should just do that ourselves.

We probably shouldnt try to contact them. We're fairly primitive

 

[Milkman]

My sister works for NASA. Says this is legit and everybody is pretty excited about it. Still probably nothing.

 

[jamny]

There are those who believe that life here, began out there.

this always feels so lazy to me... "I can't explain how life started here, so it must have come from somewhere else. Now don't ask me to explain how it started somewhere else, just trust me that it wasn't started here."

It's not lazy at all, it's an actual theory. Mars might have looked like Earth millions of years ago and the origins of life might have carried from there to Earth at some point.

 

[NCCommish]

There are those who believe that life here, began out there.

this always feels so lazy to me... "I can't explain how life started here, so it must have come from somewhere else. Now don't ask me to explain how it started somewhere else, just trust me that it wasn't started here."

Boy if you are trying to sell creationism the irony is heavy.