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How close are we to finding aliens?
John Hopton for redOrbit.com – @Johnfinitum
Some people think aliens are a conspiracy theory or an impossibility, but statistically it’s possible that extra-terrestrial life forms (ETs) could exist in our galactic neighborhood.
Aliens probably don’t look like the classic little green men, but something could be out there. What form does our search take? Here’s an overview, with help from our friend Wolf Gordon Clifton, who is currently completing a certificate program in Astrobiology at the University of Washington and is the creator of the exhibit Beyond Human: Animals, Aliens and Artificial Intelligence.
In the 1960s, astronomer Francis Drake took a pragmatic approach to the search for extra-terrestrial life. He tried to find signals broadcast by alien civilizations using radio telescopes. Furthermore, he created the Drake Equation, a formula used to calculate the number of potential civilizations in our galaxy.
Although well respected in the scientific community, the equation is problematic as many of the factors remain unknown. Nonetheless, it can be used to estimate the number of alien civilizations that might exist, based on what we know about our planet and the rest of the universe.
Atmospheric life signatures
Liberal applications of the Drake Equation claim there could be thousands or even millions of other civilizations in the Milky Way galaxy. Yet we have been listening for them since the 1960s, and so far haven’t heard anything.
This could mean that radio transmissions aren’t as reliable as we might think—or maybe aliens aren’t using radio signals for communication. The good news is we’re using new methods in our search.
We’ve cataloged around 2000 exoplanets (planets outside our solar system), and plan to study them using spectroscopy. This is the analysis of starlight after it passes through a planet’s atmosphere. Astrobiologists may soon be able to use this to search for biosignatures – evidence of gases similar to those produced by life on Earth. Studying these atmospheres allow us to see similarities between an exoplanet and our own.
NASA just stepped up the search
According to Wolf Gordon Clifton, astrobiologists hope to discover alien life in nearby solar systems within a few decades through spectroscopy. This would then be followed up with targeted communication attempts. Some of these exoplanets are extremely far away, so communication would be very difficult.
NASA recently took a big step forwards with the announcement of the Nexus for Exoplanet System Science (NExSS), a coalition that brings together a wide variety of scientific experts. NASA calls it “an unprecedented initiative dedicated to the search for life on planets outside our solar system.”
NExSS hopes to understand the various components of an exoplanet, as well as how components of a solar system interact in order to support life.
“This interdisciplinary endeavor connects top research teams and provides a synthesized approach in the search for planets with the greatest potential for signs of life,” says Jim Green, NASA’s Director of Planetary Science. “The hunt for exoplanets is not only a priority for astronomers, it’s of keen interest to planetary and climate scientists as well.”
We’re trying our hardest to contact aliens. Hopefully they’re out there, and they’re doing the same.
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Source: http://www.redorbit.com/news/space/1113392270/how-close-are-we-to-finding-aliens-051715/
