Are we alone? Research shows how alien observer may detect Earth’s transits

In a bid to find how alien observers might be able to detect Earth, scientists have found that at least nine exoplanets are ideally placed to observe the transits of our world.

Scientists from Queen’s University Belfast in the UK and the Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research in Germany turned exoplanet-hunting on its head, by looking for alien planet that can spot the Earth.

Researchers identified parts of the distant sky from where various planets in our Solar System could be seen to pass in front of the Sun.

They concluded that the planets Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars are actually much more likely to be spotted than the more distant ‘Jovian’ planets Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune, despite their much larger size.

“Larger planets would naturally block out more light as they pass in front of their star,” said Robert Wells, a PhD student at Queen’s University Belfast.

“However the more important factor is actually how close the planet is to its parent star – since the terrestrial planets are much closer to the Sun than the gas giants, they’ll be more likely to be seen in transit,” said Wells, lead author of the study published in the journal Monthly Notices of …read more