Countdown to contact! Astronomers expect response from aliens on August 22 night
Are aliens real? Astronomers might get an answer to this question on Tuesday night (August 22).
Astronomers are waiting for a response to radio signals sent into the cosmos 40 years ago that will confirm the existence of extraterrestrial life.
According to the Japanese newspaper Asahi Shimbun, on August 15, 1983, professors Masaki Morimoto and Hisashi Hirabayashi used an antenna at Stanford University in the United States to launch a burst of radio waves into space. The message included 13 drawings describing the history of life on Earth, how humans look, and other details.
Now, a team led by Shinya Narusawa of the University of Hyogo is preparing to deploy a 64-meter-diameter antenna in Saku, Nagano Prefecture, with the goal of observing radio waves in response to the 1983 communication.
The astronomers are waiting for a response from Altair, which is 16.7 light years away from Earth. According to Metro, the team of astronomers predicts that a response might emerge as soon as today.
Altair is the 12th brightest star in the night sky and is found in the Aquila constellation.
"A large number of exoplanets have been detected since the 1990s," said Narusawa. "Altair may have a planet whose environment can sustain life."
The astronomers expect the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency's (JAXA) antenna in Saku, central Japan, to scan the skies for a response at 10 p.m. tomorrow night, listening for an hour.
Tanabata, also known as the "star festival," is celebrated on the seventh day of the seventh month - July 7 - to August 22. Tanabata, however, falls tomorrow according to the Lunar Calendar, because they chose this day.
According to the media site, the "Hello, is anybody there?" message was sent to the sky on August 15, 1983.
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- With inputs from agencies
