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There's probably no intelligent life in the outer solar system. But it couldn't hurt to check.
A new study suggests that astronomers could soon look for city lights on distant worlds. Astronomical campaigns already in the works, for instance, could spot a large illuminated city as far away as the Kuiper Belt, where Pluto and many other icy worlds orbit. The research is on the site arxiv.org. [Abraham Loeb and Edwin L. Turner, "Detection Technique for Artificially-Illuminated Objects in the Outer Solar System and Beyond"]
Artificial illumination on a Kuiper Belt Object would stand out because it would vary less than reflected sunlight does when the world moved toward or away from the sun.
“Just by checking for how their brightness varies with distance, you would be able to identify interesting candidates.”
Princeton's Edwin Turner, a co-author of the new study. Unfortunately, Turner says, no telescopes currently in the works would be powerful enough to identify city lights in other planetary systems. Unless the aliens like things really bright.
“Forthcoming facilities might be able to see artificial lighting on another world if it’s really much brighter than we use. It begins to become plausible that we could detect it. A million times would be for sure, and 10,000 times we might have a chance.”
—John Matson
[The above text is a transcript of this podcast.]
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13 Comments
Add CommentThis is a ridiculous article. Is it suppose to be a joke or is the author 5 years old?
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisCiting the potential to one day see the equivlent of city lights on objects in our own solar system has ZERO to do with the potential to see them on distant planets around distant stars. It's like saying if I can see with my naked eye a candle in my neighbor's window then I can spot a candle in the window of a house in China. No sense whatsoever.
That's not entirely fair.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisCertainly, if the Kuiper belt is the extent of our abilities at this point, then this may not be practical knowledge any time soon... but it's still valid.
The article is pointing out a method for differentiating 'natural' light from 'artificial' light. Presuming that the method is effective, it's a perfectly valid article regardless of whether or not we have devices sensitive enough to apply the method to anything beyond our own solar system at present.
Sarah Palin "I can see Russia from my door."
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisHate to burst your bubble, but that was Tina Fey on Saturday Night Live.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisNow I know why SA has dumbed down their content lately...
Surely Ms Palin *wished* she had said that?
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisHate to burst your ego bubble. I knew it was Tina Fey playing Sarah Palin so it still applies whether you can climb off your pedestal long enough to realize it. Since SA dumbed things down and your here reading I would have to assume the format must be working well for you.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thishttp://blogs.chicagotribune.com/news_columnists_ezorn/2010/04/did-sarah-palin-really-say-you-can-see-russia-from-alaska.html
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisIt took one inquiry on google to find the video on youtube.
Actually Sarah Palin really did say that you could see Russian land from Alaska on ABC News. Then Tina Fey poked fun at her on SNL.
Although this article is meant to infer that maybe one day we could identify a planet or planets in the universe with intelligent life by their well lit cities, I too found the article to sound a bit stupid. It almost read like they were trying to find well lit cities in our solar system.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisTalk about bait-and-switch.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisBright Exoplanet Lighting Could Indicate Intelligent Life...
"Oh wow, I had no idea we had anything that advanced"
...if we had anything advanced enough to see it, and if aliens had eyes, and if we were looking in the right direction and if we were looking at the right time and if....
D'OH!! That's a minute of my life I'll never get back. Sciam Fail.
An interesting idea but sounds like one of those physicist pushed projects: "Oh yeah, we'll have X done in 20 years...", then 20 years later and they still say it will take 20 years.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisThe devil is in the details. Which this article lacks, not even sure I can call it an article.
Thank you! That is pretty much what I would have said, AlienBloodMusic. "D'oh?"
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisMy worry is that someone actually paid for the 'research', 'cuz this is what I call a 'Hey, you know...' moment. As in:
Hey, you know? If we had enough pillows, we could build a stack high enough to climb to the top of Mt Everest & then there wouldn't be all that hassle. Like.
OR
Hey, you know? If we throw out the leftover beans on the lawn & the birds eat them & then fart, I bet they'll be able to fly faster. Like.
So this one goes:
Hey, you know? Our planet shines at night with the light of human endeavor. I bet if we wanted to tell if an exoplanet had intelligent life, we could look at them & see when their star isn't shining on them & then if they were still glowing, we'd know. Dude. ... Like.
Of course, you have to be hammered to really appreciate the brilliance of the idea.
Oh, you know, like, dude... IF we had a powerful enough telescope... which we won't for maybe another 50 years or so... or maybe never.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisLike.
Dude.
The text says:
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to this"... and 10,000 times we might have a chance"
and the subtitle reads:
"New telescopes could spot aliens on planets around distant stars ..."
My understanding: If exoplanet cities are 10,000 brighter than our cities then we (currently) have a chance of spotting them.
The article by itself is ok I guess. But the cheap thrill that the subtitle gave me to draw me in, is not appreciated AT ALL. Please refrain from using such cheap techniques. Sciam does not need it. Period.