One of the fascinating things about being a human in this age is that we can do more than wonder about other life and other civilizations. We can actually look for them, although there are obvious limitations to our search. But what's equally fascinating is that we can wonder if others can see us.
Assuming that all civilizations who have begun to explore their surroundings are interested in finding other civilizations, then the question of who can detect who comes down to technology. It takes advanced technological tools to search for the technosignatures of other civilizations. It also takes technology to produce most of them. But what level of technology is needed on both sides of that equation?
The technology needed to produce technosignatures is not complex. We've had that technology for thousands of years. The Great Pyramids are proof of that. But what technology is needed to see them? And from how far away?
In new research published in the journal Acta Astronautica, a researcher associated with SETI poses the question, "Are we visible to advanced alien civilizations?" His name is Z. Osmanov, and he's the author and co-author of multiple studies and articles on SETI and related topics.
"We considered the question of how our artificial constructions are visible to advanced extraterrestrial civilizations," Osmanov writes. Osmanov explains how the universal laws of physics set the limits for detection and how more advanced civilizations can solve this problem. The maximum distance for detections is about 3,000 light-years, according to Osmanov, adding that "under certain conditions, Type-II advanced alien societies might be able to resolve this problem."
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