Milky way galaxy home to 36 active civilisations besides humans, reveals study (Representational image)
A new study led by the University of Nottingham has revealed that there is a possibility of over 30 active, communicating, intelligent civilization in the milky way galaxy. The Astrobiological Copernican limits come in two forms. One is a "weak" limit that suggests intelligent life forms on a planet any time after 5 billion years of its formation, but no sooner. The second is a "strong" limit is where life formed between 4.5 billion and 5.5 billion years ago, as it did on Earth.
The study which is published in The Astrophysical Journal stated that the calculation which was used is called the Astrobiological Copernican Limit.
Speaking about their research, lead scientist and Professor of Astrophysics at the University of Nottingham, Christopher Conselice said, "There should be at least a few dozen active civilizations in our Galaxy under the assumption that it takes 5 billion years for intelligent life to form on other planets, as on Earth.”
Researchers made use of the latter in their calculations, under the assumption that life on other planets develops similarly to how it develops on Earth, and matching that to planets that could be home to similar evolution. It also assumed that the new species would need to develop in a metal-rich environment, since humans (the only intelligent life we are currently familiar with) developed near the Sun, which is rich in minerals.
Detecting the presence of civilizations in the galaxy is largely dependent on how well we can pick up signals that are being sent into space in the form of radio transmissions, the authors told The Independent. If these technological civilizations last as long as that on Earth, it is estimated that there could be 36 ongoing intelligent civilizations.
However, with the average distance between these civilizations being 17,000 light-years away, it would make detection and communication "very difficult" with the present technology available on Earth. Researchers say that it is also possible that ours is the only civilization in our galaxy unless the survival times of civilizations like ours are long.
Conselice stated that the new research suggests the search for alien life not only reveals how life forms, but also provides clues for how long our own civilization will last.
"If we find that intelligent life is common then this would reveal that our civilization could exist for much longer than a few hundred years, alternatively if we find that there are no active civilizations in our Galaxy it is a bad sign for our own long-term existence," Conselice stated.
