It’s another not-so-close encounter.
A team of alien hunting scientists is investigating a radio “signal” from the nearest star to Earth, making comparisons with the mysterious “Wow!” 1977 signal, according to a report Friday.
Astronomers at the Breakthrough Listen Project, a $ 100 million mission to find life in space with radio telescopes, picked up a wave emission believed to come from the star Proxima Centauri, which is 4.2 years old. light away, The Guardian reported.
The researchers, who detected the beam in Australia in April, said it was worth investigating because the frequency was consistent with the movement of a planet.
“He is the first serious candidate since the program ‘Wow! signal, ”the group told the dam.
In 1977, astronomer Jerry Ehman discovered radio waves that he called “Wow!” signal while using the Ohio State “Big Ear” telescope in Delaware. The signal, which was 30 times stronger than usual background radiation, could not have come from Earth, scientists said at the time.
Since then, astronomers have theorized that the waves came from passing comets, not alien life.
Scientists at the Breakthrough Listen Project are preparing to investigate the latest signal, called BLC1, in a research paper.