One mystery at a. exploring the wonders and mysteries of the Cosmos. Explore the wonders and mysteries of the Cosmos one mystery at a.Astronomers are searching distant star systems for exoplanets. Many hope to discover signs of life elsewhere as they search for them. This new study looks at the search from the other side, identifying worlds on which extraterrestrial astronomers might be able find life on Earth.Astronomers (the humans) have discovered 1,715 stars within 326 lightyears of Earth, where alien astronomers would have been able detect life in the Earth's past 5,000 years.One could imagine other worlds that might have detected Earth and wondered if we are the only ones in the Cosmos. Jackie Faherty is a senior scientist in the Department of Astrophysics at The American Museum of Natural History. She describes how this catalog might help one of our neighbours find Earth and study it.It's ETZ!There are many ways for astronomers to find exoplanets orbiting distant star systems. The transit method, which is used to search for dips in brightness at distant stars as a planet passes by it, was used to find approximately 70% of all 4,400 exoplanets. This method can be seen from Earth by astronomers (the humans).Only a fraction of planet systems can be identified using this method, as they need to be perfectly placed to block the light from their star from Earth. The systems that we can use to locate transiting exoplanets may change over time.The same geometry that affects human Astronomers would also be used to determine which worlds would witness the Earth transit before our sun. This is called the Earth Transit Zone (or ETZ). These worlds could spend up to 1,000 years in the ETZ before stars moved them out of alignment.Credit: NASA Ames. Astronomers, regardless of their home planet, can gather information about distant worlds by measuring the light dip created when an exoplanet passes before a star (as seen as from Earth).The universe is dynamic. We move as stars move. Lisa Kaltenegger from Cornell University, who is the director of the Carl Sagan Institute, explained that the Earth first moves around the sun. But the sun then moves around our galaxy's center.Kaltenegger, Dr. Jackie Faherty of American Museum of Natural History created a list of stars where the Earth could be seen transiting infront of the Sun by astronomers (the "alien kind")Seven of these stars are known to have exoplanets orbiting in the habitable zones around their star. This is where water could pool on their surfaces.One of the four stars is believed to be home to planets in the Goldilocks Zone, where it is not too hot or too cold for life to continue as we know.Astronomers have a big question that they need to answer. How to determine which distant planets are the home planets of planets in this zone?Transiting exoplanets represent our most important targets in the search for life in outer space. With thousands of exoplanets already found, we are entering a new phase of discovery. Large telescopes will be used to search for signs of life in the atmospheres transiting worlds.It just happens.Astronomers, the human kind, can analyze light passing through an exoplanet's atmosphere as it passes between its star and Earth. This allows scientists to study the surrounding gases.Two billion years ago, Earth was home to primitive life. But it wasn't until cyanobacteria took over that oxygen (a biologically-waste product) became the dominant component of our atmosphere.Many astronomers, at LEAST the humankind, consider methane and oxygen to be indicators of life on other planets. These studies can detect primitive life that is not possible to construct radio telescopes.Radio astronomers (the alien type) may also be able to detect television and radio waves from Earth on more advanced worlds. These waves have reached 75 star systems that are home to habitable planets since the advent of radio transmissions at high power.Some stars discovered in the study are some of the most intriguing targets for the search for extraterrestrial existence.We report here that 1,715 stars are located within [326 lightyears] of the Sun and have seen life on a transiting Earth since the dawn of human civilization (about 55,000 years ago). An additional 319 stars will also be entering this special vantage position in the next 5,000 year. Seven exoplanet host stars were identified, including Ross-128, who saw Earth transiting the Sun in the past. Teegardens Star, Trappist-1 and Trappist-1 will also start to see the Sun in 29 and 1,642 year, researchers report in Nature.Teegardens Star is a dim, red dwarf located just 12.5 lightyears from Earth. It is the 25th closest planet system to Earth. At least two Earth-mass planets orbit this star. Any extraterrestrial astronomers who are on those planets will be able to see the Earth transiting the Sun in 29 years. This alignment will last for 410 years, giving astronomers on exoplanets ample time to find life on their own planets.Ross 128, another red dwarf star, is located 11 light years from Earth and home to a world that is only 80 percent larger than Earth. It is the second-largest world of Earth-sized known outside our solar system.Astronomers would have witnessed our planet transiting the Sun 3 057 years ago. This is also when the Zhou Dynasty in China began, David is born and the Phoenician alphabet was first created.This world's inhabitants (Ross128arians) They would have lost their view of Earth transiting Sun approximately 900 years ago. However, Walcher of Malvern (almost certainly human) created the system of latitude/longitude that we use to describe Earth's locations today.45 light years away from Earth, the TRAPPIST-1 system is one of the most interesting targets in the hunt for extraterrestrial life. The system houses at least seven Earth-sized planets, four of them in the zone where water is more likely than on their surfaces.Astronomers from that area (almost certainly NOT humans) will witness the Earth's first transit of the Sun in the years 3663 and 3663. This sight will continue for nearly 24 centuries until the year 4392.Simply squint a bit and you'll see itTo find planets orbiting other stars, data from multiple spacecraft and observations on Earth are used.The Kepler spacecraft, which is currently the leader in exoplanet discoveries, only searched a small area of targets for long periods of time. The GAIA spacecraft of the ESA has a larger view of the sky.Faherty explained that Gaia provided us with a detailed map of the Milky Way galaxy. This allows us to look backwards and forwards in time and see where stars have been and are going. Our solar neighborhood, which is dynamic and where stars enter and leave, provides us the perfect vantage point from which to witness Earth transiting the Sun at a rapid rate.There are many ways to find exoplanets today. An alien intelligence might have additional methods to find life on other planets.Any alien astronomers from other planets would have other methods than transits to detect life on Earth. This suggests that life may be visible on Earth from many other worlds, even if transits are not observed by our planet. Astronomers from other planets would find it difficult to study the Earth's atmosphere without a transit.The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) will be available to assist astronomers (the humans) as they continue to search for planets around other stars. It is scheduled for launch in the Autumn.This revolutionary instrument, which is a successor to the Hubble Space Telescope that died in 2008, will examine the atmospheres transiting exoplanets and search for chemical signs of life.The Breakthrough Starshot initiative, another ambitious program, aims to send an extremely small spacecraft to the closest star system Proxima centauri. This star system is known to have at least one exoplanet, and that spacecraft will be used to explore the star system.James Maynard, founder and publisher of The Cosmic Companion, originally published this article on The Cosmic Companion. He is originally from New England and now lives in Tucson with Nicole, his beautiful wife, and Max, the cat. The original article can be found here.
