Thursday, October 15, 2015

Alien Megastructure Spotted?--Becca Brandt 4th Period

Recently, scientists have begun to study the strange light patterns coming from star KIC 8462852. It was first discovered in 2009 by NASA's Kepler Space Telescope. Scientists called it "interesting" because its light pattern did not follow any of the general light patterns the scientists had observed in the past. The question has come up that maybe the mysterious pattern is a megastructure created by aliens for energy. This specific star is very old, however it is exhibiting signs of a large mass of matter which is orbiting it which is only seen in very young stars. The light pattern is consistent with megastructures formed to capture energy from the star. Scientists have looked at all possible scenarios for natural causes of this star's light pattern, however none of them add up. A group of scientists was given new technology for radio telescopes funded by Russian Internet billionaire. The scientists plan for the first observation to take place in January.

Up to this point in my life, I do not believe in aliens at all. However, this article almost convinced me that they could have the slightest possibility of being real. This source, USA Today, is very credible. It includes facts from NASA. If the best scientists have studied this star and if even they think that it shows signs of alien megastructure, it may be possible. There are no natural causes that make sense for this star's light pattern. Most people think that life only exists on earth. However, I am sure the Europeans thought that life only existed in Europe before they went and found life in America, just like there could be extraterrestrial life up in space. I can't wait to hear the results from the first observation. Reading this article has really gotten me interested in this star.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation-now/2015/10/15/nasa-kepler-space-telescope-life-aliens/73994556/

4 comments:

  1. This is very interesting! I also have a hard time believing in life on other planets, but your comparison is very true. Europeans very well could have thought the same thing but look where we are now! They also thought that the Earth was flat but more scientific studies only lead to more knowledge.

    ReplyDelete
  2. That's so cool! I've always believed that other life forms exist in space, maybe not as advanced as we are, or even comprehensible to us. I hope someone makes a revolutionary discovery about "aliens" in my lifetime.

    ReplyDelete
  3. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I remember reading somewhere that alien life had already been proven by tiny bacterial organisms found on meteors.

    ReplyDelete