Alien-seeking scientists have released a catalog of objects found in space that they hope can locate intelligent life.
The list of objects, or “Exotic”, aims to include one of each type of object in the known universe, in the hope that they can be studied by astronomers looking for indications of the type of technology that might indicate extraterrestrial intelligence.
It has been prepared by Breakthrough Listen, the project backed by scientists like Stephen Hawking and funded by a Russian billionaire who hopes to find evidence of extraterrestrial life. It has used its funding to increase the search for radio signals from space, as well as to develop new technologies to improve that search.
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Despite that work, astronomers have found no confirmed technology signature that could indicate that there is extraterrestrial life elsewhere. That could suggest that no other civilization can be found, but it could also mean that astronomers have not examined every possible target that could serve as a home for aliens.
Until now, astronomers have focused primarily on finding other life forms that resemble ours, in places similar to the conditions that gave rise to life on Earth. But the catalog could allow researchers to consider that there could be other types of environments that could give rise to technology that we could discover from Earth, the researchers hope.
“Many discoveries in astronomy were not planned,” said the lead author of the new article, Dr. Brian Lacki. “Sometimes a major new discovery was missed when no one looked in the right place, because they believed that nothing could be found there.
“This happened with exoplanets, which could have been detected before the 1990s if astronomers were looking for very different solar systems than ours. Are we looking for technology firms in the wrong places? The Exotica catalog will help us answer that question.” .
The catalog includes everything from the most mundane objects to very rare and violent phenomena. Astronomers hope it can be used to more precisely understand what habitats might support extraterrestrial life, as well as to provide more information on whether those objects may appear natural but in fact artificial.
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Mystic Mountain, a three-light-year-old gas and dust pillar filled with gas jets of fledgling stars buried within, was captured by NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope in February 2010.
NASA / ESA / STScI
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The first selfie taken on an alien planet, captured by NASA’s Curiosity Rover in the early days of its mission to explore Mars in 2012
NASA / JPL-Caltech / MSSS
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Death of a star: This image from NASA’s Chandra X-ray telescope shows the supernova of Tycho, a star in our galaxy, the Milky Way
Pot
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Arrokoth, the most distant object ever explored, photographed here on January 1, 2019 by a camera on NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft 4.1 billion miles from Earth.
Getty
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An image of the Large Magellanic Cloud galaxy seen in infrared light by the Herschel Space Observatory in January 2012. Regions of space like this are where new stars are born from a mixture of elements and cosmic dust.
Pot
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The first image of a black hole, captured by the Event Horizon Telescope, as part of a global collaboration involving NASA, and released on April 10, 2019. The image reveals the black hole at the center of Messier 87, a Massive galaxy in the nearby Virgo galaxy cluster. This black hole resides about 54 million light years from Earth.
Getty
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Pluto, as shown on NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft when it first flew over the dwarf planet in July 2015
NASA / APL / SwRI
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A coronal mass ejection seen by the Chandra Observatory in 2019. This is the first time that Chandra has detected this phenomenon from a star other than the Sun.
Pot
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The dark, narrow 100-meter-long streaks that ran downhill on the surface of Mars were believed to be evidence of contemporary running water. Since then it has been suggested that they may instead be made of flowing sand
NASA / JPL / University of Arizona
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Morning Aurora: NASA astronaut Scott Kelly captured this photograph of the green lights of dawn from the International Space Station in October 2015.
NASA / Scott Kelly
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Mystic Mountain, a three-light-year-old gas and dust pillar filled with gas jets of fledgling stars buried within, was captured by NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope in February 2010.
NASA / ESA / STScI
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The first selfie taken on an alien planet, captured by NASA’s Curiosity Rover in the early days of its mission to explore Mars in 2012
NASA / JPL-Caltech / MSSS
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Death of a star: This image from NASA’s Chandra X-ray telescope shows the supernova of Tycho, a star in our galaxy, the Milky Way
Pot
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Arrokoth, the most distant object ever explored, photographed here on January 1, 2019 by a camera on NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft 4.1 billion miles from Earth.
Getty
5/10
An image of the Large Magellanic Cloud galaxy seen in infrared light by the Herschel Space Observatory in January 2012. Regions of space like this are where new stars are born from a mixture of elements and cosmic dust.
Pot
6/10
The first image of a black hole, captured by the Event Horizon Telescope, as part of a global collaboration involving NASA, and released on April 10, 2019. The image reveals the black hole at the center of Messier 87, a Massive galaxy in the nearby Virgo galaxy cluster. This black hole resides about 54 million light years from Earth.
Getty
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Pluto, as shown on NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft when it first flew over the dwarf planet in July 2015
NASA / APL / SwRI
8/10
A coronal mass ejection seen by the Chandra Observatory in 2019. This is the first time that Chandra has detected this phenomenon from a star other than the Sun.
Pot
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The dark, narrow 100-meter-long streaks that ran downhill on the surface of Mars were believed to be evidence of contemporary running water. Since then it has been suggested that they may instead be made of flowing sand
NASA / JPL / University of Arizona
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Morning Aurora: NASA astronaut Scott Kelly captured this photograph of the green lights of dawn from the International Space Station in October 2015.
NASA / Scott Kelly
“When it comes to the pursuit of intelligent life, it is vital to have an open mind,” said S. Pete Worden, executive director of Innovative Initiatives. “Until we understand more about the forms that another civilization and its technology could take, we must investigate all possible objectives. Cataloging them is the first step toward that goal. “
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