American astronomer declares 'shock' about alien habitation

Universe Today reports that Benjamin Zuckerman, a now-retired American astrophysicist, believes that small, dense stars known as White Dwarfs may be home to civilizations. advanced intelligence.

In one of his papers, he argued that recent advances in telescope technology could easily identify alien outposts.

Picture 1 of American astronomer declares 'shock' about alien habitation
Small stars like white dwarfs could be inhabited by aliens.

Professor Zuckerman's controversial theory assumes the existence of a Dyson Orb, which experts have hunted for decades. They are theoretical structures that could be built by extraterrestrials around a star to capture its energy.

Of course, Dyson Spheres have never been found, and there is no evidence of their existence.

If so, however, these structures would be a distinct feature of an intelligent civilization that could exploit the resources of a planetary system.

Zuckerman, a former UCLA professor who has published hundreds of papers and books, believes a white dwarf is our best chance at finding a star.

"White dwarfs are quite common in our galaxy and give off a lot of heat," said Professor Zuckerman.

He claimed that that heat could be absorbed by the Dyson Sphere structure and power an alien civilization.

The astronomer argues that infrared data that has been collected by satellites recently could be scanned for signs of alien life. Those satellites include the Spitzer, WISE, TESS and Kepler telescopes.

This scientist did some calculations about how many alien civilizations are out there. He believes that less than 3% of habitable planets orbit the habitable sun-like stars that built the Dyson Globe. That still leaves us with a few million stars to look for, if his hair-raising theory proves to be true.

Professor Zuckerman is no stranger to controversy, having previously touched on the subject of extraterrestrials. His paper will likely stir up debate among astronomers, many of whom argue that Dyson Globes don't exist because they simply won't work.