Could These Mysterious Radio Signals Point Us to Alien Life?

One of the many methods that scientists have been using in the search for life on other planets is via the radio—or rather, incredibly powerful and precise radio antennas pointed at the cosmos. While this has occasionally yielded some promising results—for example, the famous ”Wow!” signal detected in 1977—much of the search has gone pretty much nowhere.

Luckily, there’s some new hope: In a study published Monday in the journal Nature Astronomy, scientists discovered a repeating radio signal from an Earth-sized exoplanet called YZ Ceti b, roughly 12 light-years from our solar system. While it’s unlikely that it’s ET firing off radio signals in the hopes that we pick up on it, the study’s authors suggest it could mean that the planet has its own magnetic field—which is a crucial component for how the Earth hosts life.

Unfortunately, the chances for finding life on YZ Ceti b are incredibly low. The planet orbits its host star every two days, which means it’s sitting way too close to the star for anything to survive the high amounts of heat and stellar radiation. However, it still provides astronomers a great opportunity to study star-planet interactions, or all of the ways that stars impact their planets and vice versa. Using this information, scientists can zero in on other planets that might have life on them. The study’s authors write that YZ Ceti b specifically creates a “uniquely promising case study for magnetic SPIs.”

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