The Messenger: ESA Antenna Could Intercept Alien Messages From Black Holes
A space-based antenna developed by the European Space Agency (ESA) is designed to measure gravitational waves, but it could possibly also decipher encrypted messages from an advanced alien civilization, a new paper suggests.
A team of physicists suggested that the Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA) would be able to detect messages from an advanced alien civilization if it is placed around a black hole where the hypothetical extraterrestrials could look to.
Professor Marek Abramowicz, the lead researcher from the University of Gothenburg in Sweden, believes that LISA is the answer to uncovering alien life in the Milky Way galaxy.
“Gravitational waves phenomena are omnipresent in the universe and with sufficient technological prowess relatively straightforward to detect,” the researchers said, adding they believe LISA plays a role in detecting extraterrestrial communication.
With the number of habitable planets in our galaxy and the estimation of the existence of advanced alien life using the Drake Equation, Abramowicz said that that there is a chance of finding one if we know where to look.
Scientists explained that technologically advanced civilizations may use the black hole’s innermost stable orbit to send messages to the rest of the galaxy.
According to IB Times ( https://www.ibtimes.com/esa-antenna-could-intercept-alien-messages-black-holes-scientists-say-2790996 ) and Cosmos, Abramowicz and his colleagues suggested that in the Milky Way, the central black hole called Sagittarius A* would be the ideal spot for a technologically advanced alien civilization to broadcast communications for the rest of the galaxy.
Scientists named the hypothetical alien message along gravitational waves as “The Messenger.” “In order to be recognized as such, a gravitational wave Messenger beacon must emit a clearly unnatural signal, such as a persistent emission of gravitational waves at a constant frequency,” Abramowicz added.
The researchers also suggested that communication may not be the primary function of the Messenger.
Do you believe that the ESA antenna can decipher encrypted messages from an advanced alien civilization?