"Even if an extraterrestrial transmitter produces a perfectly narrow radio signal, it may not remain narrow by the time it leaves its home star's atmosphere. This distortion, which happens near the point of origin, can 'smear' the signal's frequency, meaning it can be missed by our detectors that are primed to search for more focused radio waves."
"'Searches are often optimized for extremely narrow signals. If a signal gets broadened by its own star's environment, it can slip below our detection thresholds, even if it's there, potentially helping explain some of the radio silence we've seen in technosignature searches.'"
"They explained that M-dwarf stars, which constitute about 75 per cent of stars in the Milky Way, have the highest likelihood of distorting signals. The discovery could lead to better detection methods that take this into account."
Current SETI search methods focus on detecting extremely narrow radio signals, assuming they remain focused during transmission. However, a new study reveals that space weather and turbulent plasma near stars can distort and broaden these signals before they reach Earth. Using data from solar system spacecraft, researchers analyzed how stellar environments affect radio transmissions and found that M-dwarf stars, comprising 75% of Milky Way stars, are particularly likely to distort signals. This distortion may cause signals to fall below detection thresholds, potentially explaining some of the radio silence in technosignature searches. The findings suggest improved detection methods should account for signal broadening to avoid missing genuine extraterrestrial communications.
#seti-and-extraterrestrial-detection #space-weather-and-signal-distortion #radio-signal-analysis #technosignature-searches #stellar-environments
Read at Mail Online
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]