Scientists have modeled what the signal from the earth’s mobile communication towers will look like for stars located at different distances from us. It turns out that with the means that we have in our arsenal, it is impossible to detect it already at a distance of 10 light-years from us. But a more advanced civilization could have heard them.
Radio signal from mobile communication towers
Scientists from the Universities of Manchester and Mauritius decided to check whether they would hear signals from our mobile communication networks on other stars. For this, they modeled what the signal strength would be on three of them: Alpha Centauri (distance 4.36 light years), Barnard Stars (distance 5.96 light years) and Lalande 21185 (distance 8.31 light years).
A study published in the journal Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society shows that it is impossible to detect these signals from any of these stars, that is, even within a radius of 10 light years from us with the means at our disposal today. That is, a civilization like ours would not have heard them.
However, scientists point out that more advanced aliens should have better surveillance methods, and perhaps they will still hear our networks. Each individual communications tower is actually very low-powered by space standards. But all together they create a lot of noise.
At the same time, it is intermittent, because there are several of the most developed countries that are the “loudest”. However, the authors of the study pay attention to the fact that in recent years, the density of mobile communications has been increasing in other countries. This is especially noticeable on the African continent.
Will the aliens notice our radio signals
Whether aliens will hear us in the radio range is strongly related to the question of how bright our planet really is in the range. In recent decades, scientists have noted that this already overestimated value is significantly decreasing.
Humanity is moving from super-powerful antennas that radiate in all directions to more economical systems with directional signals. And we send them mostly not into space. In this regard, the question arises whether this is not a general trend and does it mean that the absence of alien signals only means that they also do not waste energy on inefficient communication systems?
However, in the study, the authors did not analyze more powerful 5G systems and communication via more and more satellites. Theoretically, the transition to more powerful broadband transmitters, which is happening right now, will make us more visible to aliens. But whether it will be enough to recognize us somewhere other than the nearest stars remains a mystery.
According to phys.org
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