Russian astronomers from the Special Astrophysical Observatory of the Russian Academy of Sciences report that they have discovered an unusual signal coming from a star located at a distance of 95 light years from us. Most likely, this is a natural phenomenon. However, it seems so unusual that astronomers contacted SETI (search for extraterrestrial intelligence) for further study.
The attention of researchers attracted star HD164595. It is located close to us, and on massiveness reaches 0.99 solar. In terms of temperature, the star surpasses the Sun by only 12 K and is 100 million years younger than our star. Only one planet rotates nearby - it is a gas giant the size of Neptune, which performs a full orbit rotation in 40 days. It is likely that there may be other planets that have not yet been found.
There are 3 main explanations of the signal. The first (and most probable) possibility is that there is noise in the data that forms a phantom signal. The second option - this signal is real, but it has a natural nature, hinting at an interesting and unexpected discovery. There is a third possibility that is not seriously considered, but cannot be ignored. This is a signal from a developed alien civilization that lives in this star system.
Astronomers carefully examined the signal power. If they are truly aliens, then their civilization should be much more developed than ours. If their theoretical “beacon” sends signals in different directions, then its creators are able to use all the energy of the native star. If the lighthouse was specifically sent to our side, then the aliens need only the energy of their planets.
It is important to note that if the signal was sent in our direction specifically, then this may be just a coincidence. A star that was 95 light years away could receive only the first radio waves of mankind in the past decade. A “timely response” will take at least a century.
There is no reason to believe that we are really confronted with real aliens. But there are suspicions that something unusual is present in this signal, so the case was transferred to SETI. Strange signals have already been captured earlier and this is a weak thread for research, but we have no better way to search for extraterrestrial life. So you have to grab hold of every hold.
