Abraham Loeb, Edwin L. Turner
Existing optical telescopes and surveys can detect artificially-illuminated
objects comparable in total brightness to a major terrestrial city at the
outskirts of the Solar System. Orbital parameters of Kuiper belt objects (KBOs)
are routinely measured to exquisite precisions of <10^{-3}. Here we propose to
measure the variation of the observed flux, F, from such objects as a function
of their changing orbital distances, D. Sunlight-illuminated objects will show
a logarithmic slope alpha=(dlogF/dlogD)=-4 whereas artificially-illuminated
objects should exhibit alpha=-2. If objects with alpha=-2 are found, follow-up
observations with large telescopes can measure their spectra to determine if
they are illuminated by artificial lighting. This method opens a new window in
the search for extraterrestrial civilizations. The search can be extended
beyond the Solar System with next generation telescopes on the ground and in
space, which would be capable of detecting phase modulation due to very strong
artificial illumination on the night-side of planets as they orbit their parent
stars.
View original:
http://arxiv.org/abs/1110.6181
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