Alien megastructures could be hidden in our galaxy

Several years ago, the discovery of Tabby’s star seemed to show signs of extraterrestrial civilizations in our galaxy. But this hypothesis has never been proven. But of course, investigations into potential alien megastructures have never stopped – and now it appears that scientists have found not just one, but 60 promising candidates.

Understands:

• Two recent studies have found signs of strange giant structures in 60 stars;
• The first team analyzed nearly 4.9 million stars, identifying 53 candidates – new and old – for closer examination;
• The second group of researchers analyzed 320,000 stars for partial giant structures — which do not completely surround the star — and located 7 potential candidates;
• Although both studies are promising, they still need to undergo further inspection;
• Articles published in arXiv and on Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society.

Two teams of astronomers have observed the changing luminosity and infrared light of some stars, and found signs that could be linked to giant structures, such as excess infrared light in ancient stars. Although this discovery is likely caused by collisions between rocky planets, some questions remain mysterious, and the teams are proposing more detailed inspections.

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Data from millions of stars may point to signs of strange giant structures

“The stellar ages of these candidates are inconsistent with current models of rocky planet formation, which predict that most collision events should occur within the first 100 million years,” the authors of the first study, published in 2017, wrote. “The objects may indicate that the processes last longer.” than previously thought, or other processes lead to such discs. arXiv.

By analyzing data from nearly 4.9 million stars, the duo found 53 potential candidates — new and old — with infrared emissions much higher than expected. However, the observations still need further analysis.

The second article was published in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical SocietyShe looked for partial giant structures — those that don’t completely surround the star — in a group of about 320,000 stars. Here, the team found “seven sources showing excess mid-infrared flux of uncertain origin,” as described in the study.

As with the other discovery, scientists stress that although the candidates look very promising, more observations are needed.