Looking for UAPs : Dr. Avi Loeb
One of the conferences at the "Echo Event," held at the prestigious University of Sorbonne, focused on the search for extraterrestrial life by a special guest.
Indeed, the renowned astrophysicist Avi Loeb, Frank B. Baird Jr. Professor of Science at Harvard, came to present his work on the search for extraterrestrial life. In 2012, Time Magazine elected him one of the 25 most influential people in the space field. Loeb has also written successful books ("Extraterrestrial: The First Sign of Intelligent Life Beyond Earth," published in 2021) and participated in expeditions to investigate interstellar objects. These are objects that come from outside the solar system and could provide information about the universe.
Professor Loeb began his presentation by explaining that the difficulty of researching interstellar objects is similar to looking for a needle in a haystack. However, the potential rewards of discovering an extraterrestrial technological object would be considerable, providing evidence of extraterrestrial life.
Over the past decade, three interstellar objects have been discovered, one of which has been studied in detail. The properties of one of these objects, called Oumuamua, were unusual, leading Loeb and other scientists to speculate that it could have been manufactured by an extraterrestrial civilization.
In addition to research on interstellar objects, Loeb is also interested in topics such as interstellar propulsion and the search for potentially habitable planets. Overall, his research is focused on understanding our place in the universe and the possibility of extraterrestrial life.
Loeb reminded the audience that space exploration may seem like a costly luxury, but is crucial for our future as a species. By exploring space, we have the opportunity to discover answers to some of the most fundamental questions about the universe and perhaps find new ways to preserve our planet in an ever-changing world.
More recently, the professor has been intrigued by the origin of an interstellar object discovered on August 29, 2019, by an amateur astronomer in Antigua. He wondered if some of these objects could be of technological rather than natural origin, as they do not resemble familiar rocks in our solar system. An interstellar object is an object that moves at a speed greater than the escape velocity from the Sun's gravity, such as the interstellar object Oumuamua mentioned by Professor Loeb. Any object moving faster than the escape velocity is considered of interstellar origin, coming from outside the solar system. Professor Loeb suggested that the object might be artificial due to its shape, resembling a "small sail" or coating on an object. However, he admitted that he does not have enough data to support this hypothesis and considers the search for evidence of extraterrestrial life an absolute imperative for humanity. For this reason, he encouraged scientists to maintain their childlike curiosity and not be afraid to explore unusual theories. The professor has created the Galileo Project for the search for technological objects circulating near Earth that may have been manufactured by extraterrestrial civilizations. They have an observatory at Harvard University that constantly monitors the sky and collects data on tens of thousands of objects, analyzed using software employing artificial intelligence.
He then described the development site of the Galileo project, nicknamed "Pigeon Run." The project uses a range of instruments, including wide and narrow-field sensors. The former is used for target selection and tracking, while the latter collects high-resolution data on potentially abnormal objects.
The main instrument used is named "Dalek," a hemispherical array of eight infrared cameras, as well as a second optical camera. These instruments continuously monitor the sky, analyzing potentially abnormal activities in real-time.
The acoustic system "Amos" (acoustic monitoring, omni-directional system) is designed to detect and record abnormal acoustic signatures across various bands in real-time, from infrasound to ultrasound. "Amos" includes an antenna to record data from aircraft transponders, facilitating the distinction between known and unknown objects.
"Skywatch" is a passive multistatic radar. This system detects and simultaneously tracks the position of different objects.
There is also "PAC-MAN," an environmental monitoring system to measure local weather conditions.
"Specter" is a radio spectrum analyzer with a wide-band antenna for measuring radio and microwave emissions.
"Beacon" is currently the only narrow-field instrument, a tiltable panoramic camera with an optical zoom (40 times).
These systems form the basis of this operational observatory at Harvard University, collecting data using artificial intelligence. Professor Loeb and his team are trying to identify familiar objects such as birds, balloons, drones, and planes. But they also want to see if there is anything extraterrestrial, seeing as there is indeed such a thing as unidentified objects, according to the US government. And as Avi Loeb puts it: the sky is not classified!
The Galileo Project also plans to create several other observation sites to collect data, with the next site expected to be located in Colorado. Each site will be equipped with instruments costing less than a million dollars. Avi Loeb also mentioned the use of satellite data, to observe objects from the sky and not just from the ground, provided by "Planet Labs" (Planet.com).
The Galileo Project also plans to collect data on distant objects, including interstellar meteors. With eight published articles, the team is working on the analysis of the initial data and plans to publish more articles next year.
Avi Loeb also mentioned that he supervised an expedition (June 14-28, 2023) to recover remains of an interstellar meteor, initially discovered in 2014, that fell into the Pacific Ocean. He regularly shared real-time summaries on Medium.com, attracting millions of readers worldwide. Challenges, such as obtaining $1.5 million in funding, were overcome, and an official letter from the US Space Command confirmed the interstellar origin of the meteor. The bolide's data generated by its explosion revealed exceptional material resistance. The expedition involved 28 experts. The object's trajectory was better localized thanks to a seismometer on Manus Island (New Guinea). According to him, this exploratory project was crucial for understanding interstellar objects.
The explosion allowed locating the object by measuring the delay between light and sound. The expedition took place aboard the Silver Star ship. Magnets were dragged on the ocean floor to collect samples of molten rock from the explosion - a challenge considering the ocean depth of two kilometers and a search area of 11 square kilometers. The researcher shared moments of the expedition, including photos of his morning jog and discussions on scientific research. The particles collected by the magnets were examined under a microscope, and distinct metallic spherules were discovered, each less than a millimeter (about 50 spherules).
All the spheroids collected during the expedition were shipped to the researcher's home, emphasizing the contrast between the short delivery delay and the billions of years it took for this material to reach Earth.
The researcher then brought all the samples collected during the expedition to Harvard, to Dr. Stein Jacobson's laboratory, where a summer intern, Sophie Ferguson, eventually discovered 600 spheroids, earning the title of "spheroid hunter." Images obtained by an electron microscope have revealed the complex structure of the spheroids, spheres nesting within each other, similar to Russian dolls. The analysis unveiled unusual iron isotope ratios compared to rocks found on Earth, the Moon, or Mars. Moreover, the abundance of elements such as beryllium, platinum, and uranium, hundreds of times higher than the composition of elements found in the solar system, are said to be an unprecedented discovery in scientific literature. These results suggest the possibility that these spheroids are related to a meteor from outside the solar system.
But where could this meteor have come from? Loeb explained how the meteor could have formed to contain elements such as beryllium or uranium in a much higher proportion than rocks on Earth. He explained that in a magma ocean, mainly composed of iron, this iron associates with certain elements with which it has an affinity and leaves others behind (uranium, beryllium...), which would explain the meteor's origin.
Thus, it is conceivable that during the formation of the planetary system around Proxima Centauri (the nearest dwarf star to the solar system), there were more planets than the three currently existing, some approaching the star and being disturbed by gravity. Unlike the Sun, which is not dense enough to destroy the Earth by gravitational force, a dwarf star, generally 100 times denser than the Sun, could create a rock ejection into space when a planet passes too close to the star, giving rise to interstellar meteorites. This could well be the case with the one that exploded in the Earth's atmosphere, and whose spheroids were found at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean.
Researchers calculated the ejection speed, which can generally reach 60 kilometers per second. A natural origin for the interstellar meteor can thus be considered, explaining its unusual abundance of chemical elements such as uranium or beryllium due to the presence of a magma ocean when the planet approaches the star, heating the rock to thousands of degrees.
According to Loeb, the expedition to recover the meteor spheroids presented difficulties, such as funding, the recruitment of engineers and navigators, as well as the manufacture of tools adapted to collect the spheroids, with potential failure points such as equipment malfunction or loss of spheroids. Despite these challenges, Loeb says the mission was a success thanks to an optimistic approach and fruitful collaboration. The researcher's guiding principles include following scientific evidence, relying on well-calibrated instruments rather than testimonials, and staying focused on the scientific method, avoiding distractions from social media and unfounded opinions.
Loeb mentioned that several pseudo-scientists have expressed strong criticism of his research without any scientific knowledge, giving the example of a blogger boasting of not having published a scientific article in a decade. He emphasized that some people call themselves astrophysicists despite the absence of scientific contributions. He advised young people not to listen to those individuals, as they often ignore facts and do not adhere to the scientific method.
Translated from French by Guillaume Fournier Airaud
This work is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 4.0
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