Earths Visability

This is a question to anyone who knows more about space exploration then I do.. (thats probly alot of you.) I am wondering what are the things that we look for, to find other planets? other then the wobble of a star. I know we are broadcasting radio signals, but what other sort of things could we do to improve the chances of other lifeforms to find us? since chances are they would be more advanced then us, they would find us before we find them. basically what I am asking is, what could we do as a planet, to make our little solar system attract attention??
thanks in advance.

Once we have a better understanding and can harness Quantum Physics I am sure we will have better ways to atract more attention. Right now our Radio signals are being Broadcast at the speed of light. Now assuming that there may be life in our galaxy. Our Galaxy alone is 100,000 lightyears in Diameter. We have not been broadcasting that long for anything to comeback to us in my opinion, the next big galaxy to us is the M31 galaxy at about 2.9 million light years. So just put that into perspective...thinking that it has to travel there and back..........it is going to be awhile before we get some attention. Unless like I said we can harness quantum physics. (worm holes etc.)

Do we want to attract attention ???

We don't know what's out there right now and I don't think we should be putting up a big sign to get the attention of other civilizations. We should be watching for them, and if we find them, we should learn as much as possible before any contact.

I don't want to end up hanging in some alien deli as smoked meat or enslaved to do the bidding of my new alien masters.

I would say yes, we want attention because, I dont belive that we have been visited yet, but I belive that we are going to be eventually, I hope sooner rather then later. But who knows there is just as much chance of us being the most intelligent beings, as us being the least. I have absolutley no fear of aliens coming to "eat us" besides, us humans dont have that much meat compared to other animals on this planet, we will be eaten only after cows etc. ha ha. and by then, we will have agreements with the aliens.

Well, we certainly would be 'agreeable' to them.

I don't see much point in trying to attract attention to ourselves. We've done enough of that already with our probes.

Besides, we are ants. We are specks of dust. We would have nothing to offer any race capable of communicating with or meeting us. Cotton candy and edible underwear. That's all our species has that might be remotely interesting.

I agree, I guess we have done all we can... within our means. but I was just thinking, say a rather large comet was on a head on course with earth, and we decided the best chance would be to lob all of earths combined firepower...nukes, etc.

what would that look like to a distant observer? anyone have any clue? would it be similar to a really mini-supernova? or would it be unique, having obvious signs of an intelligent intervention, that would draw interest?

Originally posted by acura_el2000
what would that look like to a distant observer? anyone have any clue? would it be similar to a really mini-supernova? or would it be unique, having obvious signs of an intelligent intervention, that would draw interest?

If they were just looking towards the Sun from their solar system, probably nothing. If they were looking at it through a telescope, maybe a very, very slight increase in magnitude. If they had some sort of instrument like a spectrometer aimed at the Sun, they might notice the slight shift in change of the spectrum of the Sun and call it a variable star.

The explosions, while bright, would just get lost in the glare of the Sun and add to it's apparant magnitude, I would think.

That or whatever may sit back and chuckle (or the alien equivelant) to themselves, "Haha! They think they can stop a comet with that! Not worth the planet they thrive on..."

According to some ET researchers, experts, contactees, channelers etc., the Earth has been placed in an intergalactic quarantine and inter-species contact is under strict control, the little contact that still happens. But this is supposedly temporary.

So blasting signals into space etc. might not be even breaking through whatever quarantine we've been placed in. And that's not even considering the fact that communication via radio or lightwaves MIGHT be totally primitive and unused by species who have mastered telepathy.

This is all theoretical... I dont necessary believe anything but it's interesting to speculate.

[edit on 5-5-2006 by firebat]

Well somewhere I read that a type 3 or 4 civilization (think it was in the wikpedia) can make it's sun appear different colors and flash like a christmass tree (something like that anyways) and that seems like the best way to let ourselves be known to any alien that maybe out there.

I haven't heard that, exactly... As that would mean being able to manipulate the temperature of the star. Who knows though? If the Universe is infinite, then there are infinite possibilities!

And I think you were thinking of the Kardashe Scale.

that seti program did get contact year or so ago and inside our milkyway there is a signal broadcasting ever few minutes which they do not understand.bad idea to draw attention to our planet.i dont by any means want another planet contacting us its a bad idea and should be canned.

Originally posted by flukemol
that seti program did get contact year or so ago...

Really? The only "contact" I had ever heard of was in 1977, with the "Wow!" Signal

Originally posted by anxietydisorder


I don't want to end up hanging in some alien deli as smoked meat or enslaved to do the bidding of my new alien masters.

OMG, it's a cookbook!

If it makes you feel any better, I've read a few articles where the Earth is "quieting down".
Mostly due to the advent of Satellite TV narrowcasting, and cable television.
Smaller signals beamed directly, instaed of broadcasting..