Considering the vastness of the universe, several space experts strongly believe that alien life could be harbouring somewhere in the deep nooks of the space.
The Milky Way in which the solar system resides is a spiral galaxy, but a new study report suggests that oval-shaped elliptical galaxies could be the perfect place to spot extraterrestrial life.
A milestone study to locate alien life
The new research report published in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society argues that large elliptical galaxies could have life-supporting space bodies. The study report authored by Daniel Whitmire, an astrophysicist at the University of Arkansas attempts to overturn a 2015 paper that claimed that the chances of intelligent life on elliptical galaxies are much higher.
In the 2015 study report, researchers led by Pratika Dayal, an astronomer at the University of Groningen had suggested that large elliptical galaxies are more habitable than spiral galaxies due to the bigger population of stars and far fewer celestial calamities that include supernova explosion. The study report also predicted that elliptical galaxies used to have more metals when compared to spirals, and this is considered as a positive sign to harbour life.
"The evolution of elliptical galaxies is totally different than the Milky Way. These galaxies went through an early phase in which there is so much radiation that it would just completely have nuked any habitable planets in the galaxy and subsequently the star formation rate, and thus any new planets went to essentially zero. There are no new stars forming and all the old stars have been irradiated and sterilized," wrote Whitmire in the study report.
The FRB mystery
In the meantime, a team of astronomers has recently discovered fast radio bursts (FRB) that come from a source within the Milky Way. The study conducted by Paul Scholz, a researcher at the University of Toronto, Canada, suggested that this radio burst could be coming from an active magnetar known as SGR 1935+2154.
Even though these fast radio bursts could be the result of natural causes, space experts have not ruled out the possibility of these radio signals being sent by alien civilizations to hint at their presence.
