In 2017, astronomers discovered a space rock that hailed from another star system. The interstellar object, which was subsequently named 'Oumuamua, has since then intrigued scientists.
Some think that the cigar-shaped object could be an alien spacecraft. In a newly released study published in The Astrophysical Journal Letters, for instance, astrophysicists from Harvard proposed that the 'Oumuamua could be a debris from a now-defunct craft tumbling through space, or a reconnaissance probe launched from elsewhere in the galaxy.
The idea that the supposed interstellar asteroid is an alien spacecraft has prompted scientists at the SETI (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence) Institute in Mountain View, California to use the Allen Telescope Array to observe the object when it was about 170 million miles away.
SETI scientist Gerry Harp and colleagues wanted to measure artificial radio transmission from the object, which, if found, could serve as strong evidence that the 'Oumuamua is not just a rock tossed into space by a natural phenomenon that occurred in its home star system.
The researchers looked for signals that could prove the object incorporates some technology.
They listened for pings with a frequency ranging from 1 to 10 gigahertz, with a resolution of 100 kilohertz. The observation campaign can pick up signals produced by an omnidirectional transmitter with a power between 30 and 300 milliwatts.
The search, however, came up empty.
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