Extraterrestrial life? Not yet … a mysterious space signal turns out to be a faulty device

Was it perhaps alien life or something that might answer one of the big questions about space? None of that, according to extensive research by scientists. The mysterious “space noise” that caused a stir among astronomers two years ago was most likely from a faulty electrical device.

In April 2019, the Parkes Telescope in New South Wales, Australia, picked up a signal for about five hours, an unusual wavelength (982 MHz) rarely used by planes, satellites or other devices. man-made.

Proxima Centauri

This intrigued scientists, also because the telescope was aimed at Proxima Centauri at the time. It is the star closest to the sun. A planet revolves around the star, which theoretically contains liquid water and therefore life might be possible.

The signal therefore prompted scientists to conduct further research. But after that April day, he was no longer recovered, despite three further search attempts late last year and this year. And now researchers have an explanation, they write in the scientific journal Nature astronomy.

Broken computer

“It was radio interference created by humans from technology, probably from the surface of the Earth,” said one of the study’s co-authored astronomers; Sofia Sheikh, University of California.

It could be a broken computer, phone, or radio near the telescope, which was turned off or repaired after about five hours.

Jason Wright, an astronomer from the University of Pennsylvania, tells the site of Nature that the study was “very valuable” despite the somewhat unsatisfactory results. “We need those kinds of signals to know how to deal with them and how to prove they’re aliens or humans.”