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Chinese Astronomers Search for Extraterrestrial Signals in TRAPPIST 1 System

Chinese Astronomers Search for Extraterrestrial Signals in TRAPPIST-1 System

Chinese team uses FAST, the world's most sensitive radio telescope, to search for technosignatures from the potentially habitable TRAPPIST-1 exoplanet system.

Written by Gadgets 360 Staff | Updated: 20 September 2025 20:00 IST

Chinese Astronomers Search for Extraterrestrial Signals in TRAPPIST-1 System

Photo Credit: CactiStaccingCrane

China's FAST radio telescope, the world's most , scours the TRAsensitivePPIST-1 system

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Highlights

FAST telescope scans TRAPPIST-1 system for possible alien technology
No extraterrestrial signals found, but study sets crucial new limits
Research highlights FAST’s unmatched sensitivity in modern SETI efforts

The TRAPPIST-1 system is about 40 light-years away from us, and it's a hotbed of alien hunting for waterworld super-Earths. The exoplanets are the size of Earth and Neptune combined, with a thin atmosphere and a deep ocean. Jam-packed with seven Earth-sized planets where temperatures are good for life, this system is one of the absolute closest we've ever come to finding another clement clique in a very cool cosmos. This research is a significant advancement in the search for other civilisations in the universe.

China's FAST Telescope Pushes Limits in Search for Alien Signals in TRAPPIST-1

According to an analysis of the research, it worked by using the enormous Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical Telescope (FAST) from Dezhou University. Experts can and do use FAST to find very precise, slow-drifting radio signals in the L-band, a frequency range thought not possible for natural sources. And the sophistication allowed them to find artificial signals much weaker than previous searches.

Twelve 1.67-hr observations targeted the star system for signals of extraterrestrial origin. The telescope design is sensitive to weak signals, and it is designed for a search for mindless broadcasts. But no sign of alien technology was detected.

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Able to Prospect for Alien Transmitters (Probably)! The discovery that there are no alien transmitters in a target star system is not a failure; it is the demonstration of the power of modern Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence techniques.

Researchers will step up the hunt for signals from TRAPPIST-1 – even if it could be decades until we rule in life – with new tools like FAST that help us to find out more about our place in the universe.

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