Aliens roam the Northern Territory as a new tri-nation search focuses on deep space

ALIENS living in the Territory are likely breathing a sigh of relief after news that Australia’s new tri-nation search for intelligent life will focus on deep space, rather than among us. VIDEO

ALIENS living in the Territory are likely breathing a sigh of relief after news that Australia’s new tri-nation search for intelligent life will focus on deep space, rather than among us.

Even though any Territorian could tell them to just come to Wycliffe Well, the 64m dish will focus on advanced monitoring of the newly-discovered planet, Proxima Centauri, which orbits the nearest star to our sun, a red-dwarf 4.3 light years from Earth.

The CSIRO Parkes installation in rural NSW has conducted weeks of test observations in preparation to look for signs of extraterrestrial life over the next decade.

Proxima Cantauri is partnered by another so-called “exo-Earth” planet, Proxima b, which orbits within a “habitable zone” where water could exist in liquid form on the planet’s surface.

“The Parkes radio telescope has a long list of achievements to its credit, including the discovery of the first fast radio burst (a pulse of unknown origin lasting only a few milliseconds),” CSIRO Astronomy and Space Sciences director Dr Douglas Bock said. “Its unique view of the southern hemisphere sky and cutting-edge instrumentation means it now also has a great opportunity to contribute to the search for extraterrestrial life.”

Parkes joins two US telescopes, the Green Bank Telescope in West Virginia and the Automated Planet Finder at Lick Observatory in California, as part of ongoing surveys looking for signs of other life in space.

The search shift means Territory aliens, who we all now have been among us for decades according to NT News reports, can now rest easy when enjoying their lattes or walking along Smith St Mall rather than hiding out in obscure bushes or stripping an entire tree of its mangoes.