Astronomers Searched 100,000 Galaxies for Alien ‘Supercivilizations’

Astronomers Searched 100,000 Galaxies for Alien ‘Supercivilizations’ but the hunt is just getting started.

Galaxies for the waste heat signatures emitted by highly advanced extraterrestrial life, a team of astronomers has found no obvious signs.

Pilot project though it may be, Wright’s new study, which appears today in the Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series, is by far the largest search ever conducted for a Kardashev Type III supercivilization-one that spans its entire galaxy, harnessing the energy of billions of stars.

WISE performed an all-sky survey in 2010 that was able to resolve roughly 100,000 galaxies.

“When we look at these galaxies, we have to account for natural sources of infrared heat, such as star formation and dust,” Wright told me.

Wright’s team found about 50 galaxies with unusually high levels of mid-infrared radiation he says, no definitive evidence for advanced supercivilizations yet.

“Most of those fifty galaxies were already known to have very high rates of star formation,” Wright told me.

Looking more closely at those three hot galaxies is a next step for the research team.

Source: Astronomers Searched 100,000 Galaxies for Alien ‘Supercivilizations’

Originally published at Cogly.