Breakthrough Listen project was started by the legendary physicist Stephen Hawking to look for alien life.
- Recently, astronomers under this initiative have picked up an “intriguing” radio wave emission from the direction of Proxima Centauri, the closest star to our Sun.
- The news has sparked renewed interest in Proxima Centauri, one of whose planets is believed to revolve in the star’s habitable zone, giving rise to the possibility that it could have, or does, sustain life.
- The beam picked up from the direction of Proxima Centauri–which has been named BLC1 or Breakthrough Listen Candidate 1– has two interesting characteristics.
- This raises the possibility that the emission could be an alien ‘technosignature’.
About Proxima Centauri
- Proxima Centauri is 4.2 light-years away from the Sun.
- Its mass is about an eighth of the Sun’s, and it is too dim to be seen with the naked eye from Earth.
- Proxima b: Proxima b, one of the two planets that revolve around the Proxima Centauri star, is the subject of significant curiosity. It is 1.2 times larger than Earth and orbits its star every 11 days. Proxima b lies in Proxima Centauri’s ‘Goldilocks zone’.
- Goldilocks zone: According to the NASA, the ‘Goldilocks Zone,’ or habitable zone, is the range of distance with the right temperatures for water to remain liquid. It is an area around a star where it is not too hot and not too cold for liquid water to exist on the surface of surrounding planets.
(Source: Indian Express and NASA)
