Strange signals?
Unexpected finding poses mystery for astronomers.
‘Star light, star bright, first star I see tonight.” The beginning of this childhood poem pretty much describes how most people imagine stars. They shine in the night sky, making them visible to us. But light comes in many forms, not just that which we can see with our eyes. In general, stars and galaxies “shine” in radio waves, microwaves, infrared, visible light — the part we see — ultraviolet, X-rays and gamma rays, the whole gamut of electromagnetic radiation.
Astronomers are extremely interested in all these forms of radiation because each tells us about different physical processes occurring in the objects under scrutiny. And, generally, we understand how each object in space behaves in each of these spectral regions. Astronomers’ enthusiasm jumps to great heights when they find a known object, a star for instance, that behaves in an unexpected way. That’s how science advances, figuring out how to explain the unexpected.
Recently, scientists at Arecibo Observatory studied the radio emissions from the nearby red dwarf star Ross 128 while looking for signs of any planets orbiting the star. They found something unexpected.
Dr. Abel Mendez, of the Planetary Habitability Laboratory, was one of the astronomers who made the observations. He described the data in the lab’s blog post: “We realized that there were some very peculiar signals in the spectrum that we obtained from Ross 128. The signals (were unlike any others we’ve seen). We believe that the signals are not local radio frequency interferences since they are unique to Ross 128 and observations of other stars immediately before and after did not show anything similar.”
The scientists considered several possible sources of the odd data. Ross 128 may exhibit strong Type II flares from its surface. Perhaps another object in the field of view but farther away caused the readings, or the burst from a high orbit, geostationary satellite. Type II solar flares have never been observed at such high frequencies. They scrutinized all other objects in the same field of view of the observations and found nothing else that could have been responsible. Radiation from satellites don’t exhibit the frequency dispersion seen in the unusual signals.
What’s left to consider? Is it possible that we’ve final discovered artificial signals from an alien race? Dr. Mendez did respond to that possibility. “In case you are wondering,” he wrote, “the recurrent aliens hypothesis is at the bottom of many other better explanations.” More observations of Ross 128 are planned to help astronomers understand the strange signals. The scientists’ best guess is that the signals come from one or more geostationary satellites. The only problem with that explanation is that the signals bear all the hallmarks of coming from much farther out in space. They have never encountered satellite signals like this before.
It’s a scientific mystery and scientists love mysteries. But with regards to summarily dismissing the alien signal, I say, “Never say never.”
September highlights
On the morning of the Sept. 17, low in the eastern, pre-dawn sky, Mercury, Mars, the bright star Regulus, Venus and the moon form a near-vertical line from the horizon. Mercury and Mars will be low and tough to find in the twilight. Regulus will be higher and brighter then both, but may still prove difficult to see. Venus and the moon are the two brightest objects in the sky other than our sun. The moon will be a thin crescent, but with a clear view of the horizon, both luminaries should be visible. Using those two as a guide and with a good pair of binoculars, the other three may be within your visual grasp.
Two days later, about the same time, Venus passes quite close to Regulus. Venus should be obvious, but, again, you may need the help of binoculars to see Regulus.
At 3:02 p.m. on Sept. 22, the sun stands directly over Earth’s equator. In the Druidic culture, this day is referred to as Mabon. The Druid celebration of Mabon, called Mea’n Fo’mhair, honors the Green Man, the God of the Forest. They offered libations of cider, wine, herbs and fertilizer to the trees of the forest.
We call it the autumnal equinox, or the first day of fall.