Ross 128
ATA observation of Ross 128. Screen capture from setiquest.
Info credit: Jon Richards
It’s unlikely that Ross 128 has been big in your life. In fact, it’s unlikely you’ve ever seen it, despite the fact that it’s nestled in the prominent summer constellation, Virgo. That’s because Ross 128 is a dim bulb of a star, a so-called red dwarf. Even on the darkest of moonless nights, it’s 100 times too faint to be seen with the naked eye.
In
May, radio astronomers at the Arecibo radio telescope in Puerto Rico
pointed their Brobdingnagian antenna in the direction of Ross 128. The
researchers’ interest was to learn if they could measure any natural
radio emissions from this very close (11 light-years) dwarf. Such stars
are known to act up, and the turbulent flares that erupt from their
surfaces produce radio static. The hope was that small changes in such
emission might offer clues to planets whose magnetic fields might
perturb these stellar storms. (Note that Ross 128 does not have any
known planets, but that doesn’t guarantee there aren’t any.
What
the Puerto Rican astronomers found when the data were analyzed was a
wide-band radio signal. This signal not only repeated with time, but
also slid down the radio dial, somewhat like a trombone going from a
higher note to a lower one.
That was odd, indeed. And the discoverers, led by Abel Mendez at the
University of Puerto Rico, immediately enlisted the help of other
astronomical observatories to keep watch on Ross 128. They suspected
one of three possible causes for the radio noise: (1) Flares from the
star, as above; (2) other background astronomical source, or (3)
terrestrial interference, most likely from some artificial satellite. A
deliberate transmission from intelligent beings on a planet near the
star is another possibility of course, but was at the bottom of their
list.
The Arecibo observers were careful to point out that the intelligent
beings explanation – while instinctively more appealing than a barrel of
kittens – was the least likely. Still, the facts are that no one yet
knows for sure what’s going on in this system.
Beginning last weekend, Jon Richards swung the SETI Institute’s Allen Telescope Arrayin
the direction of Ross 128, and so far has collected more than 10 hours
of data. Even using the massive Arecibo antenna, the detected signal
was weak, and that makes its detection with other instruments
difficult. But it’s obviously important to check the signal out and,
insofar as possible, see if it’s really coming from the Ross 128 star
system.
Institute scientist Gerry Harp
is looking at the ATA data now, and this page will be updated with
whatever findings are made. Of course it’s possible that Ross 128 will
shed its anonymity and become the first star system to show good
evidence of extraterrestrial intelligence. But it’s likely – at least
on the basis of past experience – that we will find another, less
romantic explanation for the mystery that now enshrouds this object.
That, of course, is a frequent occurrence for anyone doing exploration,
and hardly a cause for discouragement, but rather an incentive to
continue the search.
Source: SETI Institute
