Latest news with #HD89389
Yahoo
22-05-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
'Strange' star pulses detected in search for extraterrestrial intelligence
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. An unusual pulse signal has been detected in the light of nearby stars — and it's left scientists scratching their heads, a study searching for extraterrestrial intelligence finds. The pulses saw the stars become fainter and brighter in a fraction of a second, suggesting that something passed in front of — and partially obscured — the stars' light. This doesn't mean aliens were zooming by in spaceships, but unknown alien activity is one of several possible explanations left on the table by the researcher who detected the signal. Richard Stanton, a retired scientist who formerly worked at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, has spent years with a 30-inch telescope scrutinizing more than 1,300 sun-like stars for signs of extraterrestrial intelligence. He does this by measuring changes in light coming from individual stars. This effort didn't yield anything particularly unusual until May 14, 2023, when Stanton detected two quick and identical pulses in the light of a star named HD 89389 — located around 102 light-years from Earth in the constellation of Ursa Major. "No single pulse anything like these has ever been found in more than 1,500 hours of searching," Stanton wrote in the study, published April 23 in the journal Acta Astronautica. Stanton checked historical data on starlight observations and found that a similar pair of pulse signals was recorded in 2019, this time in the light of a star called HD 217014, or 51 Pegasi. After completing his study, Stanton then detected a third double pulse event in the light of another star (HD 12051) on Jan. 18, 2025. The pulse signals are currently unexplained. However, Seth Shostak, a senior astronomer at the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI) Institute in California who was not involved in the study, urged caution when attributing the pulses to potential alien activity. "There's a history (going back more than a century) of astronomical discoveries that were, at first, attributed to extraterrestrial beings, but in fact turned out to be natural phenomena," Shostak told Live Science in an email. "Given that history, one should be cautious in saying that these 'starlight pulses' are due to extraterrestrials trying to get in touch." Shostak added that he would expect any alien transmissions, be they optical, radio or something else, to convey information of some kind — because, as he puts it, clever aliens wouldn't go to the trouble and expense of sending empty signals into space. "And as these signals seem to be both regular, kind of simple (two pulses) and repetitive, I'm more than a little inclined to say that we're dealing with astrophysical phenomena here — not an attempt by some alien society to send interstellar telegrams," he said. Related: Did the James Webb telescope really find evidence of alien life? Here's the truth about exoplanet K2-18b. Even so, the pulses of light coming from HD 89389 were "strange," according to Stanton's study. The star's light was reduced by about a quarter in one-tenth of a second. No known phenomenon could have caused the star itself to change in brightness and then revert back to normal so quickly, according to the study. There are plenty of objects in and around Earth that regularly obscure stars in the night sky, causing their brightness to flicker. However, Stanton found that the usual suspects for obscuring stars, like airplanes, birds, satellites and meteors around Earth, didn't explain these pulses. For example, objects like airplanes and asteroids typically obscure all of the star's light, but HD 89389 never completely disappeared. What's more, Stanton snaps images of the stars while measuring the photons they emit, and these images often pick up passing satellites that have obscured a star's light. However, there wasn't anything visible in the images of HD 89389 to explain the pulses. "Nothing was found in any of these frames, suggesting that the source of the pulses was either invisible, such as due to some atmospheric effect, or too far away to be detected," Stanton wrote. One possible explanation is the activity of an extraterrestrial intelligence (ETI), but it would have to be near to Earth (relatively speaking) because of how rapidly the stars changed in brightness. RELATED STORIES —Intelligent aliens would need a power supply to jump-start their civilization — would they require fossil fuels? —'Perhaps it's only a matter of time': Intelligent life may be much more likely than first thought, new model suggests —What's the best evidence we've found for alien life? "Whatever is modulating the star's light must be relatively close to Earth, implying that any ETI activity must be within our solar system," Stanton wrote. The study explored several potential causes for the pulses but left many questions unanswered. Alongside aliens, possible explanations left on the table included gravitational waves — ripples in the fabric of space-time — and the starlight diffracting off some unseen space object. "More and better data are needed, such as could be gathered using arrays of telescopes on the ground," Stanton wrote. "Data from this new source, or information from other approaches, may be the only way to unravel this mystery."
Scottish Sun
19-05-2025
- Science
- Scottish Sun
Mystery object sends ‘pulsing' signal from inside our galaxy like nothing ever seen & scientists ‘can't rule out aliens'
The unexplainable pulses could have several causes HELLO FROM THE OTHER SIDE HELLO FROM THE OTHER SIDE Mystery object sends 'pulsing' signal from inside our galaxy like nothing ever seen & scientists 'can't rule out aliens' Click to share on X/Twitter (Opens in new window) Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) A MYSTERY cosmic object inside our own galaxy has been detected sending out a pulsing signal that has baffled scientists. The signal is so out of the ordinary that scientists cannot rule out the possibility that it is coming from an alien civilisation. Sign up for Scottish Sun newsletter Sign up 3 The SETI project started out of the the Greenbank Observatory in West Bank, Virginia, more than 60 years ago Credit: Alamy 3 Our galaxy, the Milky Way Galaxy, over the Jurassic Coast at Charmouth, Dorset, UK Credit: Getty In a new study, published in the journal Acta Astronautica, Nasa scientist Richard Stanton said he discovered an unexpected "signal" coming from a sun-like star 100 light-years from Earth on 14 May, 2023. Since then, Stanton has observed the pulse of light on three separate occasions. The signal, from star HD 89389 within the constellation Ursa Major, consisted of two fast, identical pulses 4.4 seconds apart. They had not been seen in previous searches, according to the study. The pulses also had several unique characteristics that set them apart from anything scientists had previously observed. This includes fluctuating light from the nearby star, which got "brighter-fainter-brighter" and made the star "partially disappear in a tenth of a second," according to Stanton. The pulses and their individual glows were essentially identical too. "In over 1500 hours of searching, no single pulse resembling these has ever been detected," he added. "The fine structure in the star's light between the peaks of the first pulse repeats almost exactly in the second pulse 4.4s later. No one knows how to explain this behavior." Stunning clip of Milky Way captured in record-breaking detail - scientists say it 'changes view of our galaxy forever' And nothing was moving near the star that could have caused these beams. Sometimes signals produced by airplanes, satellites, meteors, lightning, atmospheric scintillation, and system noise can appear as cosmic signals. Although Stanton noted that common signals "are completely different from these pulses". The pulses match similar beams of light from a different star observed four years ago, according to Stanton. In 2019, a similar pair of pulses was detected around sun-like star HD 217014, some 50.6 light-years from Earth. At the time, the signal was dismissed as a false positive caused by birds, according to Stanton. However, a further analysis ruled out this possibility. 3 Stanton says alien involvement cannot be ruled out Credit: Getty The unexplainable pulses could have several causes. While unlikely, according to Stanton, the pulses could be refracting light caused by Earth's atmosphere, possibly due to a shock wave. Other possibilities include starlight diffraction by a distant cosmic object in the solar system, or even partial eclipses caused by Earth satellites or distant asteroids. Until we learn more, we can't even say whether or not extraterrestrials are involved. Nasa scientist Richard Stanton It could also be a gravity wave that generated these pulses, which requires more research. "None of these explanations are really satisfying at this point," said Stanton. "We don't know what kind of object could produce these pulses or how far away it is. "We don't know if the two-pulse signal is produced by something passing between us and the star or if it is generated by something that modulates the star's light without moving across the field. "Until we learn more, we can't even say whether or not extraterrestrials are involved!" Over the years, Stanton has surveyed more than 1,300 sun-like stars for optical Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI) signals from Big Bear, California. The SETI project started out of the the Greenbank Observatory in West Bank, Virginia, more than 60 years ago. Unlike traditional SETI surveys that have used radio antennas, Stanton looks for pulses of light that could result from laser communications or directed-energy arrays. "My approach is to stare at a single star for roughly one hour using photon counting to sample the star's light at what is considered a very high time-resolution for astronomy (100 microsecond samples)," Stanton, a veteran of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), explained. "The resulting time series are then searched for pulses and optical tones. "The instrument uses readily available off-the-shelf components that can be assembled into a PC-based system. I'm not sure if anyone else is doing this with a significant time commitment. "I am not aware of any discovery of similar pulses." Stanton, who is now retired, had previously worked on the Voyager missions and served as the Engineering Manager of the Gravity Recovery And Climate Experiment (GRACE) mission.
The Irish Sun
19-05-2025
- Science
- The Irish Sun
Mystery object sends ‘pulsing' signal from inside our galaxy like nothing ever seen & scientists ‘can't rule out aliens'
A MYSTERY cosmic object inside our own galaxy has been detected sending out a pulsing signal that has baffled scientists. The signal is so out of the ordinary that scientists cannot rule out the possibility that it is coming from an alien civilisation. 3 The SETI project started out of the the Greenbank Observatory in West Bank, Virginia, more than 60 years ago Credit: Alamy 3 Our galaxy, the Milky Way Galaxy, over the Jurassic Coast at Charmouth, Dorset, UK Credit: Getty In a new study, Since then, Stanton has observed the pulse of light on three separate occasions. The signal, from star HD 89389 within the constellation Ursa Major, consisted of two fast, identical pulses 4.4 seconds apart. They had not been seen in previous searches, according to the study. READ MORE ABOUT SPACE The pulses also had several unique characteristics that set them apart from anything scientists had previously observed. This includes fluctuating light from the nearby star, which got "brighter-fainter-brighter" and made the star "partially disappear in a tenth of a second," according to Stanton. The pulses and their individual glows were essentially identical too. "In over 1500 hours of searching, no single pulse resembling these has ever been detected," he added. Most read in Science "The fine structure in the star's light between the peaks of the first pulse repeats almost exactly in the second pulse 4.4s later. No one knows how to explain this behavior." Stunning clip of Milky Way captured in record-breaking detail - scientists say it 'changes view of our galaxy forever' And nothing was moving near the star that could have caused these beams. Sometimes signals produced by airplanes, satellites, meteors, lightning, atmospheric scintillation, and system noise can appear as cosmic signals. Although Stanton noted that common signals "are completely different from these pulses". The pulses match similar beams of light from a different star observed four years ago, according to Stanton. In 2019, a similar pair of pulses was detected around sun-like star HD 217014, some 50.6 light-years from Earth. At the time, the signal was dismissed as a false positive caused by birds, according to Stanton. However, a further analysis ruled out this possibility. 3 Stanton says alien involvement cannot be ruled out Credit: Getty The unexplainable pulses could have several causes. While unlikely, according to Stanton, the pulses could be refracting light caused by Earth's atmosphere, possibly due to a shock wave. Other possibilities include starlight diffraction by a distant cosmic object in the solar system, or even partial eclipses caused by Earth satellites or distant asteroids. Until we learn more, we can't even say whether or not extraterrestrials are involved. Nasa scientist Richard Stanton It could also be a gravity wave that generated these pulses, which requires more research. "None of these explanations are really satisfying at this point," said Stanton. "We don't know what kind of object could produce these pulses or how far away it is. "We don't know if the two-pulse signal is produced by something passing between us and the star or if it is generated by something that modulates the star's light without moving across the field. "Until we learn more, we can't even say whether or not extraterrestrials are involved!" Over the years, Stanton has surveyed more than 1,300 sun-like stars for optical Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI) signals from Big Bear, California. The SETI project started out of the the Greenbank Observatory in West Bank, Virginia, more than 60 years ago. Unlike traditional SETI surveys that have used radio antennas, Stanton looks for pulses of light that could result from laser communications or directed-energy arrays. "My approach is to stare at a single star for roughly one hour using photon counting to sample the star's light at what is considered a very high time-resolution for astronomy (100 microsecond samples)," Stanton, a veteran of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), explained. "The resulting time series are then searched for pulses and optical tones. "The instrument uses readily available off-the-shelf components that can be assembled into a PC-based system. I'm not sure if anyone else is doing this with a significant time commitment. "I am not aware of any discovery of similar pulses." Stanton, who is now retired, had previously worked on the Voyager missions and served as the Engineering Manager of the Gravity Recovery And Climate Experiment (GRACE) mission.
The Sun
19-05-2025
- Science
- The Sun
Mystery object sends ‘pulsing' signal from inside our galaxy like nothing ever seen & scientists ‘can't rule out aliens'
A MYSTERY cosmic object inside our own galaxy has been detected sending out a pulsing signal that has baffled scientists. The signal is so out of the ordinary that scientists cannot rule out the possibility that it is coming from an alien civilisation. 3 3 In a new study, published in the journal Acta Astronautica, Nasa scientist Richard Stanton said he discovered an unexpected "signal" coming from a sun-like star 100 light-years from Earth on 14 May, 2023. Since then, Stanton has observed the pulse of light on three separate occasions. The signal, from star HD 89389 within the constellation Ursa Major, consisted of two fast, identical pulses 4.4 seconds apart. They had not been seen in previous searches, according to the study. The pulses also had several unique characteristics that set them apart from anything scientists had previously observed. This includes fluctuating light from the nearby star, which got "brighter-fainter-brighter" and made the star "partially disappear in a tenth of a second," according to Stanton. The pulses and their individual glows were essentially identical too. "In over 1500 hours of searching, no single pulse resembling these has ever been detected," he added. "The fine structure in the star's light between the peaks of the first pulse repeats almost exactly in the second pulse 4.4s later. No one knows how to explain this behavior." Stunning clip of Milky Way captured in record-breaking detail - scientists say it 'changes view of our galaxy forever' And nothing was moving near the star that could have caused these beams. Sometimes signals produced by airplanes, satellites, meteors, lightning, atmospheric scintillation, and system noise can appear as cosmic signals. Although Stanton noted that common signals "are completely different from these pulses". The pulses match similar beams of light from a different star observed four years ago, according to Stanton. In 2019, a similar pair of pulses was detected around sun-like star HD 217014, some 50.6 light-years from Earth. At the time, the signal was dismissed as a false positive caused by birds, according to Stanton. However, a further analysis ruled out this possibility. 3 The unexplainable pulses could have several causes. While unlikely, according to Stanton, the pulses could be refracting light caused by Earth's atmosphere, possibly due to a shock wave. Other possibilities include starlight diffraction by a distant cosmic object in the solar system, or even partial eclipses caused by Earth satellites or distant asteroids. Until we learn more, we can't even say whether or not extraterrestrials are involved. Nasa scientist Richard Stanton It could also be a gravity wave that generated these pulses, which requires more research. "None of these explanations are really satisfying at this point," said Stanton. "We don't know what kind of object could produce these pulses or how far away it is. "We don't know if the two-pulse signal is produced by something passing between us and the star or if it is generated by something that modulates the star's light without moving across the field. "Until we learn more, we can't even say whether or not extraterrestrials are involved!" Over the years, Stanton has surveyed more than 1,300 sun-like stars for optical Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI) signals from Big Bear, California. The SETI project started out of the the Greenbank Observatory in West Bank, Virginia, more than 60 years ago. Unlike traditional SETI surveys that have used radio antennas, Stanton looks for pulses of light that could result from laser communications or directed-energy arrays. "My approach is to stare at a single star for roughly one hour using photon counting to sample the star's light at what is considered a very high time-resolution for astronomy (100 microsecond samples)," Stanton, a veteran of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), explained. "The resulting time series are then searched for pulses and optical tones. "The instrument uses readily available off-the-shelf components that can be assembled into a PC-based system. I'm not sure if anyone else is doing this with a significant time commitment. "I am not aware of any discovery of similar pulses." Stanton, who is now retired, had previously worked on the Voyager missions and served as the Engineering Manager of the Gravity Recovery And Climate Experiment (GRACE) mission.
