Space is full of the known and the unknown! However, the unknown far outweighs the
known, and we continually get baffled by phenomenons that, try as may, we cannot
explain! Thanks to sophisticated equipment and sound data interpretation, we can
detect many strange things, even though we struggle to explain them or their origin! The
latest discovery that has left even the best NASA scientists scratching their heads is a
series of strange radio signals emanating from space! What are these strange radio
signals? Are they coming from intelligent aliens trying to establish communication with
us? And how do they affect your everyday life? Join us as we dive deep into the strange
radio signals coming from space that NASA just detected!
Sitting in a cozy, well-lit room on Earth, space might look like a serene place where you
can enjoy solitude, unlike the hustle and bustle of the big cities down here. However,
that perception could not be more wrong! One of the most common is radio emissions
because they come from basically everywhere! From planets and stars, exotic objects
like pulsars and black holes, galaxies. Radio emissions even come from human
technology. So, at any point in time, radio waves are emanating from uncountable
sources!
Despite the many possible sources, astronomers have detected new and unusual radio
wave signals, unlike any found before! The radio waves fit no currently understood
patterns of variable radio sources but are coming from the direction of the center of our
Milky Way galaxy! The discovery was made using the ASKAP radio telescope.
What is ASKAP? It stands for Australian Square Kilometer Array Pathfinder and is a
next-generation radio telescope incorporating novel receiver technologies and leading-
edge ICT systems. It is made up of 36 antennas, each 12 meters in diameter, that all
work together as a single instrument.
When ASKAP is completed, it will be capable of high dynamic wide-field imaging using
novel phased array feeds that will provide a unique new capability within radio
astronomy. The design of ASKAP is unique among radio telescopes because its
antennas feature three-axis movement and will use phased array feeds or radio
cameras rather than ‘single pixel feeds’ to detect and amplify radio waves. These
attributes mean that the telescope will survey large areas of the sky with unprecedented
sensitivity and speed.
Why did the scientists believe this radio wave was different from whatever they had
heard before? They explained that it has a very high polarization. This means its light
oscillates in only one direction, but that direction rotates with time. Apart from this, the
brightness of the object also varies dramatically, by a factor of 100, and the signal
switches on and off apparently at random, unlike anything the scientists had ever seen
before! Initially, the scientists thought it could be a pulsar or else a type of star that
emits huge solar flares. But the signals from this new source don’t match what these
celestial objects emit!
While the investigation continues on the radio wave, the source of the signals has been
dubbed the ASKAP J173608.2-321635. However, even though the scientists were
baffled by the source of the emission, finding it was nothing short of extraordinary! The
astronomers detected six signals over a period of nine months in 2020.
But, when the astronomers tried to find the source in visible light, using optical
telescopes, they saw nothing. The Parkes radio telescope in Australia also came up
empty. This telescope, located just outside the town of Parkes in the central-west region
of New South Wales, is one of the four instruments that make up the Australia
Telescope National Facility.
Parkes has a diameter of 64 meters, making it one of the largest single-dish telescopes
in the southern hemisphere dedicated to astronomy. It started operating in 1961, and
the surface, control system, focus cabin, receivers, computers, and cabling have all
been upgraded to keep the telescope at the cutting edge of radio astronomy. The
telescope is now 10,000 times more sensitive than when it was first commissioned.
However, it failed to detect the source of the radio signal!
Luckily, there is the MeerKAT radio telescope in South Africa, an array of 64 interlinked
receptors. A receptor is the complete antenna structure, with the primary reflector, sub-
reflector, and all receivers, digitizers, and other electronics installed. Forty-eight of the
receptors are concentrated in the core area, which is approximately 1 km in diameter.
MeerKAT is even more powerful than Parkes, so the astronomers turned to it to unravel
the mystery of this strange radio signal!
MeerKAT did detect the signal! However, it was intermittent and different, signaling that
Source
Nasa Detects New Alien Life Radio Signals From Outer Space
