Extraterrestrial

How easily could aliens detect radio signal leakage from Earth ?

By T.K. Randall
May 3, 2023

Image: The 64-M Parkes Radio Telescope
Credit: Stewart Duff, CSIRO / CC BY 3.0 (adapted) It's no secret that we've been broadcasting radio signals out into space for many decades now, whether intentionally as part of SETI, for example, or unintentionally via signal leakage.

The question is - if an advanced alien civilization living around a nearby star happened to be looking in our direction, would it be possible for them to determine that we are here ?

To find out, researchers from Mauritius and Manchester University used crowd-sourced data to simulate the leakage of radio and mobile signals and to determine whether or not it would be possible to detect these from various nearby worlds and star systems.The answer, it turns out, is that it would probably be quite difficult to pick up the signals without a very advanced receiver, but that as our own technology improves, the signals we are sending out will become stronger and thus easier to detect.

"I've heard many colleagues suggest that the Earth has become increasingly radio quiet in recent years -- a claim that I always contested -- although it's true we have fewer powerful TV and radio transmitters today, the proliferation of mobile communication systems around the world is profound," said team leader Professor Mike Garrett.

"While each system represents relatively low radio powers individually, the integrated spectrum of billions of these devices is substantial."

Source: Science Daily

Tags: Alien, Earth