In 2017, when the first observed interstellar object “Oumuamua” passed the Earth, it seemed to be accelerating. This is not the role of most space rocks-this is part of the reason why Harvard astrophysicist Avi Loeb said “Oumuamua is an alien spacecraft.”
although Most researchers Agree that the object is a space rock-comet or debris An asteroid -Loeb believes that there are countless other objects, such as “Oumuamua” whizzing past our planet, some of which may also come from aliens. So he started a program to find them.
On Monday, Loeb announced an initiative called Project Galileo — named after the Italian astronomer — that would look for physical evidence of alien technology and civilization.
Loeb said at the press conference: “This is a fishing expedition. Let us go out and catch any fish we find.” “This includes objects that are close to the earth, hovering in our atmosphere, or come from outside the solar system that seem strange object.”
Projects of US$1.75 million (approximately R26 million), at least by Four philanthropists, Designed to use the Earth’s telescope network to find interstellar objects that may be alien. The team will also look for potential alien spacecraft in Earth orbit, as well as UFOs in our atmosphere.
Look for interstellar objects before they pass the earth
When astronomers realized the existence of’Oumuamua, it was already flying away at a speed of 3.15364 million kilometers per hour. Several telescopes on the ground and a telescope in space made limited observations, but astronomers only had a few weeks to study this strange skyscraper-sized object, lest it be too far away.
This leaves many questions about what the object is and where it comes from.in a Book Loeb published “Aliens: The First Sign of Intelligent Life Beyond Earth” in January, in which he described “Oumuamua” as an obsolete alien technology.
Before the publication of the book, Loeb said: “The object has some anomalies worthy of attention-inconsistent with our expectations,” and added, “When something is inconsistent, you should say it.”
Two years after the discovery of Oumuamua, astronomers discovered Second interstellar object: A comet named 2I/Borisov. Through the Galileo Project, Loeb and a team of 14 other researchers hope to spot future interstellar objects as soon as they approach the Earth. To this end, they plan to use the Pan-STARRS telescope in Hawaii and the 8-meter-wide telescope currently under construction at the Vera C. Rubin Observatory in Chile.
Frank Laukien, a visiting scholar at Harvard University and co-founder of the Galileo Project, said that early detection allows scientists to send detectors to these objects.
Laukin said at the press conference: “Next time we should get better data sooner, maybe we can land on them or get very, very close to them.”
Looking for signs of alien technology
Wil O’Mullane / Wikimedia Commons
Loeb described this new project as a complement to the SETI Institute, which uses radio telescopes to search for extraterrestrial life. But he said that the Galileo project will look for physical evidence of alien civilization, not radio signals. This includes fragments of potential alien satellites or alien spacecraft that may orbit the Earth. (One of Loeb’s assumptions is that’Oumuamua is a light sail or antenna broken from a larger ship.)
Loeb also plans to check for Unidentified Airborne Phenomena (UAP) in the Earth’s atmosphere.
Last month, U.S. intelligence officials released A report Describes 144 incidents of military personnel encountering UAP since 2004. The report concluded that one of the incidents was related to a deflated balloon, but the remaining incidents were still unexplainable.
Pentagon
“This is an unusual admission by the government that there are objects in our sky that we don’t fully understand,” Loeb said.
according to Galileo Project website, These UAPs may be artifacts of extinct alien civilizations or active alien equipment. Therefore, the team hopes to image future UAPs with higher resolution by creating a network of 1-meter telescopes around the world.
This type of telescope is priced at about 500,000 US dollars (about 7.2 million rand) each, and can find 1 millimeter-sized details on a human-sized object 1.6 kilometers away.
“This can help us distinguish between labels that say’something made in country X’and’made by exoplanet Y’,” Loeb said.
He added that the Galileo team plans to disclose its data to encourage other scientists to participate in the search.
“Finding other people on the streets of the universe will help us mature — helping us realize that the biscuits in the jar are not the sharpest, and that intelligent life far beyond us may exist there,” Loeb said.
