The curiosity to know outside the Earth system is always there. While looking for life beyond the solar system, scientists have reached as close 14 light-years. There is a star named Wolf 1061 hosting a planet that could be one of our best bets.
There are three so-called super-Earths in the system, including Wolf 1061c, which orbits in the habitable zone where the temperature is such that liquid water, and therefore life as we know it, could exist.
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New research set to be published in the next issue of the Astrophysical Journal (PDF) confirms earlier estimates that the planet orbits near the inside edge of the habitable zone, or closer to its sun, which means it could be more like Venus than Earth.
Messaging Extraterrestrial Intelligence has pointed its optical telescope in Panama at the star on four separate occasions to search for brief laser pulses sent by an alien civilization. So far the search has yielded nothing, but it’s just getting started.
“If there is life on Wolf 1061c, it’s likely to be microbial,” METI International President Douglas Vakoch said in an interview. “So far, we’ve found no indications of advanced technologies in this promising exoplanet just 14 light-years from Earth.”
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So while Wolf 1061 is over three times farther than Proxima Cen b, it’s still certainly worth checking for ET. Vakoch says the star is also a high priority on a list of stars METI plans to transmit deliberate signals toward by the end of 2018.
“We hope to elicit a response from any extraterrestrials who’ve been keeping to themselves so far.”