'Strong signal' from sun-like star sparks alien speculation
August 30, 2016  19:35
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Astronomers engaged in the search for extraterrestrial intelligence are training their instruments on a star around 94 light years from Earth after a very strong signal was detected by a Russian telescope.

An international team of researchers is now examining the radio signal and its star, HD 164595 -- described in a paper by Italian astronomer Claudio Maccone and others as a "strong candidate for SETI" -- in the hopes of determining its origin.

"The signal from HD 164595 is intriguing, because it comes from the vicinity of a sun-like star, and if it's artificial, its strength is great enough that it was clearly made by a civilization with capabilities beyond those of humankind," astronomer Douglas Vakoch, president of METI International, which searches for life beyond Earth said.

Whenever a strong signal is detected, "it's a good possibility for some nearby civilization to be detected," Maccone tells CNN.
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