Since radio telescopes were used to characterize interstellar matter in the 50s of the last century, they have become one of the tools for searching for extraterrestrial civilizations. It is precisely because of the receipt of radio or laser signals emitted by one or more long-range interstellar "intelligent lifeforms" that this field is gradually becoming busy.
In practice, however, the increase in the drift rate did not lead to an increase in the actual computational resources, and it was not until recent studies re-evaluated the drift rate data in the orbits of exoplanets that this work was further developed. The researchers eliminated some of the biases, allowing them to speed up the search for extraterrestrial intelligence signals.
Pictured is a tool used by researchers when calculating the upper limit of the drift rate most recently. Despite the apparent appearance of a string of numbers, this information is crucial in determining the source of the extraterrestrial wireless signal.
1. Exoplanets are expected to be found
The rapid and colorful progress in the understanding of how many planets in the universe may have originated at the end of the last century has not only driven many scientists crazy, but also made the public pay more attention to research in this field. Previously, astronomers who wanted to determine whether a planet belonged to the galaxy had to infer the planet's existence indirectly, for example, by measuring the interstellar material characteristics of the parent star.
But now, with the efforts of scientists, we can confirm or rule out the location of these exoplanets by directly observing their characteristics, so as to better understand and study exoplanets in other stars.
This achievement not only makes the study of exoplanets more accurate, but also broadens the search field for signals of extraterrestrial intelligent life. This is because researchers working on the search may miss out on some critical information, which is why extraterrestrial wireless signals may be missed.
2. Some planets are difficult to observe
When astronomers on Earth try to capture wireless signals from exoplanets with radio telescopes, they don't know how much drift will occur between the transmitter and receiver. The so-called "drift" refers to the subtle change in signal frequency due to the movement between the transmitter and the earth.
Considering the Earth's own orbital motion, its rotation and the rotation of exoplanets, and its motion around the parent star, theoretically, even if astronomers know the characteristics of the signal received at a certain time and location, it is still extremely challenging to determine whether the signal was made by aliens without knowing the specific source of the signal.
Under the cloudy sky, we could not find any trace of extraterrestrialism. What the alien world is like, we really don't know yet.
3. Greatly improve the search speed
To try to determine the source of the signal, astronomers need hundreds of radio telescopes to search for it, which poses a huge challenge for their work. One of the challenges is to try to eliminate signal interference from within the Earth, such as from mobile phones, televisions, radars, and tools such as GPS. Under the shadow of these interfering signals, extraterrestrial wireless signals are becoming increasingly difficult to find.
To rule out these anthropogenic interferences, researchers first need to understand the frequency drift rates of various signals. Generally speaking, the frequency drift rate of these anthropogenic interference signals will be around zero, and astronomers can quickly determine the source and type of interference by measuring the drift rate of the interfered signal.
When they try to spot extraterrestrial signals, they need to set the threshold for frequency drift. According to the researchers' research, the signal from the out-of-line signal will eventually measure the frequency drift rate to around 200. Following past research results, researchers have assumed that the frequency drift of extraterrestrial signals is 10. However, as researchers have studied the drift rate more deeply, they have found that the value of the frequency drift rate may be larger than the results of previous studies.
Scientists use a wealth of data, some from their own observations, collection, and analysis, and others from simulations that contain information about more than 5,000 possible exoplanets that have not yet appeared in real data. For example, in these simulation data, the orbital characteristics and size of these planets are distinguished, and they are divided into different categories according to their different characteristics, which helps researchers understand the relationship between the magnitude of the drift rate and the characteristics of the planets.
In order to test the hypothesis previously proposed, the researchers analyzed the data one by one and compared them, and finally came to the conclusion that there was a certain deviation in the magnitude of the frequency drift rate in the past.
They found that when the orbit of the planet is relatively round, the value of the frequency drift rate is closer to 0, and when the orbit of the planet is more and more elliptical, the value of the frequency drift rate also increases. And as far as we know so far, it is a very revealing planet in the planetary system of FRB180916.J0158+65. The change in its drift rate is very striking. Since scientists have observed the planet for the first time, the drift rate of its signal is about 0.75.
This result is not only a new understanding of the planetary drift rate, but also provides strong support for the search for extraterrestrial signals. The researchers say their recalculation of the frequency drift rate will help them better understand the relationship between the drift rate and extraterrestrial signals, and their work will determine the magnitude of the frequency drift rate for the first time based on actual conditions.
The author believes that the ambush under the stars in the sky quietly reveals the mystery of the unopened alien world. Many years ago, we have been looking for clues in the starry sky, constantly searching for information about extraterrestrial civilizations, but until now, we have not found a definite clue
But that doesn't mean it doesn't exist, and there are many unknown galaxies and planets beyond what we can observe.
The development of science and technology has made human beings continue to move forward, especially the use of radio telescopes, which has brought more convenience to us to find clues to the extraterrestrial world. Whether it is looking for planets, observing planets, or looking for tampered signals, it greatly improves the success rate of our search for extraterrestrial signals. Thanks to the hard work of scientists, we can now change the way we used to observe a planet, and determine whether the planet belongs to its parent planet through precise observation and measurement of its orbit.
Of course, when we explore the extraterrestrial world, due to the continuous updating and breakthrough of technological means, we can not only observe the planet, but also conduct more in-depth and precise research on the behavior and orbit around it.