{"id":13114,"date":"2016-08-31T02:00:39","date_gmt":"2016-08-31T06:00:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?p=13114"},"modified":"2016-08-31T15:12:13","modified_gmt":"2016-08-31T19:12:13","slug":"update-on-that-unusual-signal-from-a-distant-star","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?p=13114","title":{"rendered":"Update on that unusual signal from a distant star"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>[ <strong>Update<\/strong>: As many suspected, it appears\u00a0the signal was of terrestrial origin:\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/arstechnica.com\/science\/2016\/08\/turns-out-the-signal-astronomers-saw-was-strong-because-it-came-from-earth\/\" target=\"_d\">Turns out the signal astronomers saw was \u201cstrong\u201d because it came from Earth &#8211;\u00a0Ars Technica<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>+ Here is a brief video from Seth Shostak:<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"embed-youtube\" style=\"text-align:center; display: block;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"youtube-player\" width=\"1600\" height=\"900\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/8ZktoFPtBUY?version=3&#038;rel=1&#038;showsearch=0&#038;showinfo=1&#038;iv_load_policy=1&#038;fs=1&#038;hl=en&#038;autohide=2&#038;wmode=transparent\" allowfullscreen=\"true\" style=\"border:0;\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-popups allow-presentation allow-popups-to-escape-sandbox\"><\/iframe><\/span><\/p>\n<p>]<\/p>\n<p>That odd signal from a star 94 light years away is fun to ponder\u00a0but very unlikely to have been sent by an alien civilization. Here was the first report to hit the Internet:\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.centauri-dreams.org\/?p=36248\" target=\"_d\">An Interesting SETI Candidate in Hercules &#8211; Paul Clister\/Centauri Dreams<\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><em>A candidate signal for SETI is a welcome sign that our efforts in that direction may one day pay off. An international team of researchers has announced the detection of \u201ca strong signal in the direction of HD164595\u201d in a document now being circulated through contact person Alexander Panov. The detection was made with the RATAN-600 radio telescope in Zelenchukskaya, in the Karachay\u2013Cherkess Republic of Russia, not far from the border with Georgia in the Caucasus.<\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><em>The signal was received on May 15, 2015, 18:01:15.65 (sidereal time), at a wavelength of 2.7 cm. The estimated amplitude of the signal is 750 mJy.<\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><em>No one is claiming that this is the work of an extraterrestrial civilization, but it is certainly worth further study. Working out the strength of the signal, the researchers say that if it came from an isotropic beacon, it would be of a power possible only for a Kardashev Type II civilization. If it were a narrow beam signal focused on our Solar System, it would be of a power available to a Kardashev Type I civilization. The possibility of noise of one form or another cannot be ruled out, and researchers in Paris led by Jean Schneider are considering the possible microlensing of a background source by HD164595. But the signal is provocative enough that the RATAN-600 researchers are calling for permanent monitoring of this target.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>No one has yet seen a subsequent pulse from the star and, as mentioned above, there are various background\u00a0sources\u00a0that could have generated the original signal. Here are some updates on the analyses and observations from other radio telescopes:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.seti.org\/seti-institute\/a-seti-signal?utm_content=buffer10136&amp;utm_medium=social&amp;utm_source=twitter.com&amp;utm_campaign=buffer\">A SETI Signal? &#8211; Seth Shostak\/SETI Institute<\/a>\u00a0&#8211; &#8220;<em>So what\u2019s the bottom line?\u00a0 Could it be another society sending a signal our way?\u00a0 Of course, that\u2019s possible.\u00a0 However, there are many other plausible explanations for this claimed transmission \u2013 including terrestrial interference.\u00a0 Without a confirmation of this signal, we can only say that it\u2019s \u201cinteresting.\u201d\u00a0<\/em><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.newscientist.com\/article\/2103604-mysterious-signal-unlikely-to-be-aliens-after-seti-draws-a-blank\/\" target=\"_d\">Mysterious signal unlikely to be aliens after SETI draws a blank\u00a0&#8211;\u00a0New Scientist<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.vox.com\/2016\/8\/30\/12709286\/seti-signal-aliens-hd164595\" target=\"_d\">The internet\u2019s going wild about a SETI signal from aliens. Scientists aren\u2019t convinced. &#8211; Vox<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.geekwire.com\/2016\/still-no-aliens-lessons-learned-strange-radio-signal-seti-quest\/\" target=\"_d\">Still no aliens: Lessons learned from SETI quest &#8211; Alan Boyle\/Geekwire<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.sciencenews.org\/article\/radio-signal-probably-not-extraterrestrials?tgt=nr\" target=\"_d\">Radio signal probably not from extraterrestrials | Science News<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>[ Update: As many suspected, it appears\u00a0the signal was of terrestrial origin:\u00a0Turns out the signal astronomers saw was \u201cstrong\u201d because it came from Earth &#8211;\u00a0Ars Technica. + Here is a brief video from Seth Shostak: ] That odd signal from a star 94 light years away is fun to ponder\u00a0but very unlikely to have been &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?p=13114\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Update on that unusual signal from a distant star<\/span> <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[41,32],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-13114","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-seti","category-space-radio"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p34aWK-3pw","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":1711,"url":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?p=1711","url_meta":{"origin":13114,"position":0},"title":"SETI and the parallel challenges of dolphin communication","author":"TopSpacer","date":"April 17, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Denise Herzing of the Wild Dolphin Project gives a SETI Institute lecture in which she discusses dolphin intelligence (and animal intelligence in general) and their communications abilities and what might be learned from them with respect to communicating with extraterrestrial intelligences: The search for signals out of noise is a\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Science and Technology&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Science and Technology","link":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?cat=9"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/img.youtube.com\/vi\/IDC0cBxOU7k\/0.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":7596,"url":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?p=7596","url_meta":{"origin":13114,"position":1},"title":"Seth Shostak interview + Video discussion of exoplanet Kepler 186f","author":"TopSpacer","date":"May 1, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Seth Shostak\u00a0of the SETI Institute\u00a0is interviewed:\u00a0FutureDude Visits Seth Shostak at the SETI Institute, Part 2\u00a0-\u00a0FutureDude\u2122. But, how does it affect the world if we did find something? I think that depends. I mean, if you can actually find a message in that signal, and you can understand it, maybe you\u2019re\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Exoplanets&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Exoplanets","link":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?cat=46"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/img.youtube.com\/vi\/UogSOfkoib4\/0.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":12761,"url":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?p=12761","url_meta":{"origin":13114,"position":2},"title":"Kickstarter for documentary about searching for and messaging ET","author":"TopSpacer","date":"June 16, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Here is a crowd-funding campaign for a documentary about : Earthling\u2019s Quest - Alien hunters and a message to the stars by Alexander, Per & Malla \u2014 Kickstarter This is not fiction \u2013 this is the human pursuit for extraterrestrial intelligence led by real-life legends from the SETI Institute in\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;SETI&quot;","block_context":{"text":"SETI","link":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?cat=41"},"img":{"alt_text":"93c49af07a7d6b2d718e51c0c359110e_original","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/93c49af07a7d6b2d718e51c0c359110e_original.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":10026,"url":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?p=10026","url_meta":{"origin":13114,"position":3},"title":"Video: Extending SETI into the near-infrared wavelengths","author":"TopSpacer","date":"February 28, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"The Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI) has been dominated by searches in radio wavelengths. Eventually SETI has been supplemented with Optical SETI, i.e. searches for signals in optical wavelengths. In the SETI Institute seminar video below,\u00a0Shelley Wright of the University of Toronto reports on new technologies that are allowing the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Science and Technology&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Science and Technology","link":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?cat=9"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/img.youtube.com\/vi\/IzlDtTE1va4\/0.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":9917,"url":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?p=9917","url_meta":{"origin":13114,"position":4},"title":"Video: Searching for ETI in the near-infrared","author":"TopSpacer","date":"February 12, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Here is a SETI Institute seminar by\u00a0Shelley Wright of the University of Toronto on\u00a0Extending the search for ETI communication to near-infrared wavelengths\u00a0- http:\/\/youtu.be\/IzlDtTE1va4 From the caption: We are poised to take advantage of a remarkable confluence of technological advances and scientific opportunity. For the first time, very fast, wide bandwidth,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;SETI&quot;","block_context":{"text":"SETI","link":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?cat=41"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/img.youtube.com\/vi\/IzlDtTE1va4\/0.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2819,"url":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?p=2819","url_meta":{"origin":13114,"position":5},"title":"Lone Signal &#8211; using a big dish to broadcast messages to ET","author":"TopSpacer","date":"June 15, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"The LONE SIGNAL project, which officially opens on June 18th,\u00a0 wants to send messages to an extraterrestrial intelligence (METI) using a former NASA radio dish near Carmel, California : Lone Signal: METI Teams Up With Citizen Science To Try And Make First Contact - Science 2.0 Lone Signal is going\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;SETI&quot;","block_context":{"text":"SETI","link":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?cat=41"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13114","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=13114"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13114\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13121,"href":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13114\/revisions\/13121"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=13114"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=13114"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=13114"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}