I am very skeptical about information about all kinds of aliens and signals from distant space. Even if for millions of years some signal came from somewhere, then taking into account our capabilities and distances - WELL AND WHAT?
However, for the second time in history, astronomers have succeeded in discovering a source of powerful repetitive radio signals in space. But what or who emits these impulses is still a mystery.
In 2007, while studying the archives of the Parks Observatory in Australia, two researchers discovered a radio signal that the observatory recorded six years ago, but no one noticed. It lasted only a few milliseconds, but it was striking in its power - the radiation was 500 times more powerful than solar radiation.
Since then, astronomers have been trying to figure out what caused these mysterious emissions. There are many theories: some blame black holes, others - collisions of neutron stars. Perhaps a certain object in the center of the galaxy is gradually falling into a supermassive black hole - or, on the contrary, this mysterious dark matter interacts with pulsars, causing powerful bursts of energy. However, none of these theories can yet be proven or disproved by means of factual evidence, because there is one global problem: the recorded radio signals lasted a negligible amount of time and then disappeared without a trace.
However, new publications in the journal Nature shed light on the nature of the space anomaly. For only the second time in history, astronomers have finally discovered a source that is repeating its signal. This phenomenon is called "fast radio bursts" (English fast radio bursts, otherwise FRB): 13 new signals were discovered by employees of the Canadian Hydrogen Intensity Mapping Experiment.
Until now, scientists only knew. A new source, FRB 180814. J0422 + 73, was discovered in the summer of 2018 - even before the CHIME equipment finally went online. After the launch, this signal appeared several more times, although the exact coordinates of the source have not yet been established.
Where do the theories about black holes come from, then? In fact, the nature of the signal scattering and a relatively small (according to observations) source, which emits radio waves with enormous power, indicate that the source itself is in a very aggressive environment - most likely it will be either a black hole or a neutron star. There is another curious hypothesis, according to which a collision of dense objects can serve as a source.
Can this riddle be solved? Can. However, for this, scientists will need to collect much more information - in particular, they will have to find other sources of repetitive signals, as well as some related events, for example, flashes of light in the visible spectrum.
sources
Whether there is life outside the Earth (apart from astronauts) is an open question. But, if you believe the reports of the world media, mysterious signals from someone who is not clear, but it is clear from where, are recorded regularly. Whether it is nature sounds or messages from aliens remains to be seen. Or maybe not.
For example, former NSA employee Edward Snowden authoritatively states that if alien civilizations send us news, we are unlikely to find out about it. Because such a signal is probably skillfully encrypted. And humanity will not be able to distinguish it from other cosmic noise. “If the signals are properly encoded, it is impossible to isolate them and say that they are encrypted,” summed up Snowden.
Plus, scientists made two important statements last week. First: recently, fast radio bursts (FRB) have been recorded more and more often. Their nature is incomprehensible, but presumably they appear outside our Galaxy. For the first time such a thing was registered in 2007. Since then, radio countries have received 18 FRBs.
And the second thing. Planetary scientists David Kipping and Alex Teachy have stated that humanity has not yet discovered life in space because aliens use low-power laser installations that hide their planets from curious human telescopes.
We have collected the most recent strange signals from space, which may very well be the greeting of alien "green men". Or a warning.
November 2015, Australia
Five mysterious radio signals were captured by astronomers from Swinburne University of Technology in Australia. This was done using the Parks telescope. Australian specialists are almost 100% sure that they are sent by sentient beings.
Scientists cannot yet say exactly where they were sent from, but they assume that it is located billions of light years from our planet. "We do not know what we are dealing with," - heated the situation on his Twitter working on decoding the signal Emily Petroff.
The news quickly spread around the world media and specialized portals. Scientists do not share the opinion of ufologists. And they believe that there is nothing special about this noise. And this is hardly a signal of aliens thirsty for communication.
April 2015, Germany
A number of pulsating signals were received from space, which, according to most researchers, have an artificial source. They were fast radio pulses. They last only milliseconds, but release as much energy as the sun does in a whole day.
Later it became known that ten such signals were found. Through long research and calculations, scientists came to the conclusion that they all came from separate sources, which were located one after another, but at an equal distance from the Earth. Researchers doubt that the arrangement of the sources was random. They also concluded that the signals came from our Galaxy.
“We have something really interesting to figure out,” said Michael Hippke of the Institute for Data Analysis in Neukirchen, Germany, who made the discovery. "It will be either a new physical phenomenon, or, if you exclude everything else, aliens."
Skeptics are sure that the mysterious signals are just the sounds of flaring stars, the merger of white dwarfs or the collision of neutron stars.
March 2015, UK
In early March last year, astronomers in the UK said they had received signals from the planet Gliese 581d. And since it is considered habitable, they are sure that there is life there, because the sounds received are not just cosmic noise. They are cyclical and appear at approximately the same interval.
While British scientists are decrypting messages from a planet about 20 light-years away in the constellation Libra and twice the size of Earth, their colleagues from Pennsylvania suggest not to waste time and energy. They remind that in 2014 they also recorded these noises. Their research allegedly proved that these sounds are just a play of light and magnetic radiation, which create a kind of noise when they intersect with each other.
The most mysterious signal from space
This signal was nicknamed "Wow!" ("Wow!"). Dr. Jerry Eiman working on the Big Ear radio telescope (Ohio, USA) recorded it on the evening of August 15, 1977. It was an extremely powerful signal that lasted long enough - 72 seconds. The most sensational signal from space got its name from the side note that Eiman made on the printout. Since then, nothing like this has happened.
Scientists have suggested that he entered somewhere from the constellation Sagittarius. And if he is not natural, then he was definitely sent by very advanced beings. Since such a signal requires a minimum of 2.2 gigawatt transmitter. The most powerful one that humans have is 3.6 megawatts (presumably a signal of such power can be transmitted by the HAARP system, which is located in Alaska). The sound is still considered unsolved. The craziest version is that he was sent from an alien starship.
Recently, Moscow ufologists Yuri Grigoriev and Anna Azhazha announced that they had finally managed to unravel the mystery of the loudest signal from space. They are confident that "Wow!" - This is a response to the message of earthlings to the center of the Galaxy, which was sent in 1974 from the Arecibo Observatory. In other words, Russian scientists are confident that the aliens received "hello" from Earth and reacted. "Signal" Wow! " was encrypted in the simplest way, through the alphanumeric order of the earthly alphabet. The answer turned out to be mirrored: according to the principle - “what they got, so they answered”, - Yuri Grigoriev commented.
Believing this is hindered by the fact that, according to modern science, such a quick response is impossible. In order for the signal to reach the addressee and back, it takes much more time, and not three years (1974 - 1977).
by the way
Unusual signals from space are recorded almost daily, says Dr. John Eliot of the British University of Leeds Beckett. Most of them are not worth attention, and those that scientists begin to investigate sooner or later turn out to be electromagnetic interference or cosmic noise. The scientist said that, since 1999, when he began working at the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI), the analysis team receives about one signal every two years to study.
Max Viltovsky
During the entire time of studying the sky, scientists have received many strange signals from space. Some of them were eventually explained by natural causes. Some of them still do not have an explanation. And of course, as always happens, all strange signals from space are immediately attributed to some alien civilizations, although in practice everything turns out to be much more banal.
In 2003, a strange radio signal from space was observed three times with a total duration of about a minute. Its frequency was 1420 MHz - it is on this frequency that hydrogen radiates and absorbs energy. However, the frequency of this signal changed very quickly, which seemed to indicate its artificial origin.
However, in the place in space where this radio signal came from, there are not a single star for 1000 light years from us. And some other signs speak in favor of its natural origin. While there is no opinion on this, the origin of this strange cosmic signal remains unknown. Perhaps this is due to some phenomenon unknown to science, or it is cosmic noise, or some kind of failure of the radio telescope is to blame. There is no explanation yet.
By the way, the SHGb02 + 14a radio signal was received at the Arecibo radio telescope, and decoded using the network [email protected] using the power of a huge network of volunteer home computers. Anyone who has a computer and the Internet can join this network, and then the home computer will receive small tasks, calculate them, and send the results. In general, this network thus has enormous computing power, allowing it to process huge amounts of information every day.
Star signal HD 164 595
The star HD 164 595 is located in the constellation Hercules, 95 light years away. It is a yellow dwarf, similar to our Sun, and anyone can find this star through a telescope.
On May 15, 2015, the world's largest radio telescope RATAN-600 recorded a signal at a frequency of 11 GHz, which came from the direction of this star. This signal was short but powerful.
Of course, there were hypotheses about a certain civilization near the star HD 164 595, which sent us news, but Russian scientists did not agree with this. Its origin also remains unclear.
Signal from the Perseus Cluster
The Perseus Cluster is one of the most massive objects in the universe known today. It is a giant cluster of thousands of galaxies.
In 2003, the Chandra Space Telescope detected a signal equivalent to the sound of a B-flat note. This is the lowest frequency that could be received from space; even the human ear cannot perceive it.
The origin of this sound signal is unknown. There is a hypothesis that such oscillations result from the inflation of plasma bubbles in the active nucleus of the galaxy NGC 1275, which is part of the Perseus cluster.
Fast radio bursts
In 2007, a radio burst of unknown nature was recorded. It was single and short, but very powerful. It lasted a few milliseconds, but the check took 5 years. It was found that the source of this strange cosmic signal is 3 billion light-years from Earth, but it was not possible to detect and explain it.
Fast radio bursts are one of the most unusual and unexplained cosmic phenomena. They can only be found by chance, in the most unexpected places in the sky. Their duration is very short, and they are unlikely to repeat again. It is very difficult to establish their source and nature. But their power is such that the Sun is capable of producing such energy for tens of thousands of years.
Strange signal from space "WoW!"
On August 15, 1977, the Big Ear radio telescope recorded a radio signal in the direction of the constellation Sagittarius. It lasted 72 seconds.
The radio telescope is stationary and scans the sky as the Earth rotates. Therefore, scientists hoped that they would be able to catch this signal again when the radio telescope was again pointed at the same point in a day. However, this did not happen, and this signal could no longer be recorded. Its nature has remained a mystery.
As you can see, even over several decades, since the time that scientists began to use radio telescopes, it was possible to detect many strange signals from space. Of course, some of them have found their explanation, and so many discoveries have been made. For example, this is how pulsars were discovered - powerful sources of radio emission. But some of these strange signals have remained a mystery waiting to be explained.
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Astronomers from Canada managed to receive radio signals from the depths of space
Astronomers have caught radio signals coming from the depths of space. According to BBC news, scientists at British Columbia University of Canada received mysterious radio signals from a source located 1.5 billion light years away. It is noted that the signals were captured by a CHIME radio telescope in the Okanagan Valley.
British Columbia University astrophysicist Ingrid Steirs suggested that the more such radio waves are detected, the more likely we will know where they are coming from and what causes them.
Powerful radio waves were first detected in 2007 by the Parkes radio telescope in Australia.
Radio telescope located in British Columbia CHIME (Canadian Hydrogen Intensity Mapping Experiment) detects signals passing through the cosmic vacuum. Most often, radio telescopes do not hear anything unusual, but sometimes some inexplicable signal breaks through the noise. This is exactly what happened on July 25th.
In the newsletter The Astronomer's Telegram describes how the new telescope detected a fast radio burst (from the English. Fast radio burst, FRB). Fast radio bursts are not uncommon, but are considered special, as it is not known what their sources are. FRB recorded by astronomers on Earth travel incredibly long distances from sources so far in space that we cannot see them.
The fast radio burst recorded now (it was named FRB 180725A) is especially unique as it was detected at a rather low frequency of 580 MHz. Previously, none of the "heard" FRB was not lower than 700 MHz.
Though FRB- radio signals, they do not contain any information that would be useful to researchers or astronomers. Some have put forward theories that they were created by super-developed alien civilizations, but so far this remains sci-fi speculation. The most likely version of the origin of fast radio bursts is the variable activity of a black hole, and maybe the merger of two black holes.
For example, FRB 121102 have been registered repeatedly over the years. Astronomers are confident that this is the same radio burst, since each time it came from the same point in space. It is believed to originate from a galaxy about three billion light-years from Earth. It is impossible to imagine how much energy is needed for a radio signal to travel such a path.
In any case, whether it is a merger of black holes, a star explosion, or just a noisy alien party - we will have to be very patient while science gives an exact answer about how fast radio bursts occur.
Radio waves can travel in outer space without any problems, they are emitted by many celestial bodies. For example, our Milky Way galaxy makes hissing noises. In July 2006, researchers launched a weather balloon from NASA's Columbia Research Balloon Center in Palestine, Texas. Scientists were looking for traces of heating from the first generation stars in the upper atmosphere, at an altitude of 36.5 km, where it passes into airless space. Instead, they heard an unusual radio hum. It came from deep space, and researchers still do not know for sure what caused it and where its source is.
9. Peaceful sounds of Miranda
Uranus has five large moons, and the closest to it is Miranda. The planet, which stands out among others with its unusual outlines, is called the "moon of Frankenstein". It is seven times smaller than our Moon, but its surface is pitted with canyons that are 12 times deeper than the Grand Canyon in Colorado. It is also known for emitting radio noise recorded by the Voyager 2 spacecraft. This "hum" was so entertaining that NASA even released an album of "Miranda tunes."
8. Ominous sounds of Jupiter
On June 27, 1996, the Galileo spacecraft, launched by NASA to explore the largest planet in the solar system, approached one of its moons, Ganymede. Rotating in the satellite orbit, the device registered the signals that it transmitted to the Earth. Researchers believe they come from charged particles accumulating in the moon's magnetosphere.
7. Sounds of the stars
The Kepler Space Observatory was launched on March 7, 1999 to find habitable planets. During the trip, the device recorded data on the light curves of the stars. The frequencies of the brightness change in these curves are very similar to the audio frequencies that are elusive to the human ear. However, using the Fourier transform, the researchers brought the frequency to an audible level.
6. Radio signal SHGb02 + 14a
Extraterrestrial Intelligence Project [email protected], which started in 1999, has attracted millions of personal computer owners to process the signals received by the Arecibo Observatory. The most promising radio signal was SHGb02 + 14a, which arrived in March 2003. It was recorded three times and came from the area between the constellations of Pisces and Aries. True, the nearest stars in that direction are thousands of light-years from Earth.
5. Strange sounds of Saturn
The unmanned spacecraft Cassini-Huygens, sent to Saturn in 1997, was the first to enter the atmosphere of the "ringed" planet. But even at a distance of 377 million kilometers from Saturn, the apparatus began to register radio waves emanating from the regions of the aurora at the poles of the planet. This ominous noise is quite complex in structure, with a lot of rising and falling tones, as well as a lot of frequency and timing variations.
4. X-ray signal
Studying in detail the data obtained by the orbiting X-ray observatories Chandra (NASA) and XMM-Newton (European Space Agency), the researchers have discovered an unexplained X-ray signal in the cluster of galaxies in the constellation Perseus. Scientists believe that the signal is associated with dark matter (that is, matter that does not interact with electromagnetic radiation), which occupies 26% of our universe. Astrophysicists suggest that such X-ray radiation can occur during the decay of sterile neutrinos - a hypothetical type of neutrino that interact with ordinary matter only gravitationally. Some astrophysicists believe sterile neutrinos will help shed light on dark matter.
3. Disturbing sound of a black hole
The black hole sound was recreated by Edward Morgan of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. To do this, he used data on the GRS 1915 + 105 star system in the constellation Eagle, discovered in 1992. It is the largest stellar mass black hole in our Milky Way. It is 14 (+/- 4) times heavier than the Sun and is located 36 thousand light years from Earth. From a musical point of view, the radio noise from the black hole corresponds to the note "B flat", only 57 octaves lower than the "C" of the third octave. And people are able to perceive by ear only 10 octaves. This is the lowest note recorded in the universe.
2. Pulses of radio emission at the Parkes telescope
Between February 2011 and January 2012, the Parkes radio telescope in Australia recorded 4 pulses of radio waves. Each one lasted milliseconds, but they were all incredibly powerful - it would take our Sun 300,000 years to generate the energy of a single pulse. There are several theories to explain the origin of the outbreaks. Among them is the collision of magnetars (neutron stars with the strongest magnetic fields).
1. Pulses of radio emission at the Arecibo telescope
On November 2, 2012, the Arecibo radio telescope in Puerto Rico recorded a short radio burst similar to that recorded by Parkes. The researchers made calculations that showed that such impulses occur 10,000 times a day. Astrophysicists are now building new observatories and also using the power of telescopes in Australia, South Africa and Canada to understand why these radio signals are coming in so often and what they mean.