Seeing the Closest Aliens Will Take Centuries

Seeing the Closest Aliens Will Take Centuries

As telescopes become more advanced, we’ll be able to see more details about planets orbiting other stars - including indications that those planets have life. However, it would probably take many centuries before we could actually see the aliens.

Although our telescopes will likely become good enough to detect signs of life on exoplanets within the next 100 years, it would probably take many centuries before we could ever get a good look at the aliens.

"Unfortunately, we are perhaps as far away from seeing aliens with our own eyes as Epicurus was from seeing the first other worlds when, 23 centuries ago, he predicted the existence of these planets," said astrobiologist Jean Schneider at the Paris Observatory at Meudon. He and his colleagues discussed the difficulties of studying distant alien life in the journal Astrobiology.

I'd like to believe that this is going to take place in my lifetime, I am more hoping that they come here as opposed to us trying to get to them. We still haven't been able to get a man to Mars so this article does agree with our infancy in space exploration.

Originally posted by UberL33t
I'd like to believe that this is going to take place in my lifetime, I am more hoping that they come here as opposed to us trying to get to them. We still haven't been able to get a man to Mars so this article does agree with our infancy in space exploration.

I assumed it would be impossible to see the aliens themselves with a telescope and even seeing their planet or evidence of their civilization would be nearly impossible, but I guess I should never say never, a few centuries is a long time at the rate our technology is progressing.

But just look at how little evidence we see from space of human population, even as far away as the moon it gets hard to see evidence of man. So if seeing even the macro evidence of civilization is that hard, seeing individual beings (human or alien) might be even harder.

Also, I note that one area of our technology that doesn't seem to be advancing much is space exploration. It doesn't seem to be much of a priority. We made great progress getting to the moon but progress since has been slow, and now even the space shuttle program is about to die with no clear replacement ready.

Lastly, regarding your comment "I am more hoping that they come here", Steven Hawking doesn't necessarily agree, and he may be right. If we aren't sure they are friendly, maybe it's better they DON'T come here until we at least have sufficient technology to defend ourselves against space invaders. I'm not saying they'll be violent, I'm saying we don't know how friendly or unfriendly they may be.

reply to post by Arbitrageur


I actually created a thread in regards to this just yesterday:

The Alien Threat, or lack thereof IMO

Just a casual notion on the subject mind you!

[edit on 5/2/2010 by UberL33t]

We'll be reaching the closest star systems by that point, I'm sure. Also, we may be able to see evidence of civilizations on other planets before that with interferometry. I'd settle for seeing evidence of lighted cities on another planet within our lives. That would make me very happy.

Also, I could have sworn it was Democritus who talked about the stars being other suns and planets possibly circling them. Democritus also came up with the concept of the atom, though just the notion that substances had an absolutely smallest reducible form where they could still be called that substance. He had no concept of the modern atomic model.

Democritus was an amazing genius.

The evidence of the Closest aliens are far closer than you think guys, they are no other than Martian techno-signatures

reply to post by UberL33t


Aliens are already here.

Those darn closet aliens.
Worse than cockroaches.
Skittering away into the dark.

Oops, 'closest' aliens. my bad.