Across the centuries, humans have looked out into the heavens and wondered if there is life out there. And humans have also been hunting for little green men here on Earth. With new technology, astronomers are trying to find out if aliens are looking back at us.
Scientists claim to have identified 1,715 star systems within the range of Earth where aliens may be watching. Over the last 5,000 years, the Earth can be clearly seen while in-transit across the face of the sun.
That means 46 star systems are in close enough proximity to intercept signals that humans put out. Researchers estimate that there are 29 potentially habitable planets in those 46 star systems. Perhaps aliens are monitoring radio, TV, and satellite broadcasts from a home planet.
Carl Sagan Institute Studies
“One way we find planets is if they block out part of the light from their host star,” Lisa Kaltenegger, professor of astronomy and director of the Carl Sagan Institute at Cornell University in New York speculated. “We asked, ‘Who would we be the aliens for if somebody else was looking?’ There is this tiny sliver in the sky where other star systems have a cosmic front seat to find Earth as a transiting planet.”
