Which Part of the Milky Way are Astronomers Zeroing In On to Detect Alien Signals?

Weekend Edition

This weekend’s stories include: Mysterious cosmic threads discovered in the Milky Way and New JWST image discoveries.

One-third of the galaxy's most common planets could be in habitable zone, reports the University of Florida. "I think this result is really important for the next decade of exoplanet research, because eyes are shifting toward this population of stars," astronomer Sheila Sagear said. "These stars are excellent targets to look for small planets in an orbit where it's conceivable that water might be liquid and therefore the planet might be habitable."

Which part of the sky are astronomers now zeroing in to catch alien signals? reports GeoTV.com. The scientists maintained that the search involves a "frequency range covering a bit less than a tenth the width of an average FM radio station. Akshay Suresh, a Cornell University graduate student in astronomy said: "The signals searched in our work would belong to the category of deliberate 'we are here' type beacons from alien worlds."

Scientists discover mysterious cosmic threads in Milky Way--Horizontal structures, up to 10 light years in length, appear to point in direction of galaxy’s black hole, reports The Guardian. "The strange filaments, each of which stretches five to 10 light years through space, resemble the dots and dashes of Morse code on a vast scale. They spread out from the galactic center 25,000 light years from Earth like fragmented spokes on an enormous wheel."

From the Far Side: Do aliens live among us? Famous immunologist, Nobel Prize nominee claims they do, reports WION."Dr Garry Nolan, a well-known immunologist and professor at Stanford University, and a Nobel Prize nominee, made a bold claim at a recent conference in Manhattan, claiming that there is an absolute certainty, a "100 per cent," that extraterrestrial life forms have visited Earth in the past and continue to be present on our planet today."

UCLA Astrophysicists confirm the faintest galaxy ever seen in the early universe--The small, distant galaxy JD1 is typical of the kind that burned through hydrogen left over from the Big Bang. The finding should help them understand how the cosmic dark ages ended.

Weird black holes may hold secrets of the early universe--Growing evidence suggests that rogue black holes and other eccentric behemoths exist, reports Science News. "Beginning about two decades ago, computer simulations of the earliest black holes started turning up oddities — big black holes that weren’t smack-dab where they were expected. These misfits must be nothing more than flukes, many scientists reasoned at the time, dismissing the results without a second thought."

Eight times NASA's James Webb Space Telescope spotted something Hubble missed, reports The Insider--"The James Webb Space Telescope can capture a more complete view of galaxies, stars, and planets. The powerful telescope is 100 times stronger than its predecessor, Hubble, and uses infrared light. JWST began science operations last year. Scientists stress it's just beginning to unveil the universe.

Curated by The Galaxy Report editorial staff.