Aliens on 1,004 main-sequence stars could be watching life on Earth, claims new study

A team of researchers at Cornell University has spotted more than 1,000 stars that have been positioned in such a way that they could easily spot our planet Earth. A total of 1,004 main-sequence stars have been spotted as of now, whose systems have a direct line of sight with Earth. All of these stars are said to be within 300 light-years of our planet.

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Researchers claim that Aliens could be watching life on Earth

The researchers claim that these stars are so close to our planet that they could easily detect the chemical traces of life on Earth as well. They also suggest that if aliens exist on these planets, it is possible that they could actually be watching us.

Lisa Kaltenegger, associate professor of astronomy at Cornell and director of the university's Carl Sagan Institute proposed reversing the standpoint to other stars in the solar system and question from which stance could other observers locate Earth as a transiting planet.

“Let’s reverse the viewpoint to that of other stars and ask from which vantage point other observers could find Earth as a transiting planet. If observers were out there searching, they would be able to see signs of a biosphere in the atmosphere of our Pale Blue Dot. And we can even see some of the brightest of these stars in our night sky without binoculars or telescopes.”

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The list of main-sequence stars was created by Lisa Kaltenegger along with Joshua Pepper, associate professor of physics at Lehigh University. NASA’s Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) star catalogue was used to create the list. However, the star systems viewing Earth will change as time progresses.

Kaltenegger also stated that transit observations serve as an essential tool for Earth’s astronomers to identify the inhabited extrasolar planets. She further added that the astronomers will start to utilize the transit observations tool with NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope, which will be released in 2021. The James Webb Space Telescope will succeed the versatile Hubble Space Telescope as the agency's major astrophysics mission.

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Image credits: Cornell University