SAURARE INDA BAƘI DAGA SARARIN SAMANIYA ZA SU IYA NEMAN MU

Neman halittu masu basira daga wajen Duniya (SETI) yana neman alamomin fasaha (technosignatures): burbushin wata fasaha da ba tamu ba, a nan siginonin rediyo. SETI yawanci yana ɗauka cewa na’urar watsawa da ke watsa siginoni zuwa ko’ina za ta zama ɓarna, kuma siginonin rediyo da suka zube ba da gangan ba za su yi rauni sosai. Don haka yana neman fitilun sigina (beacons) — siginonin da aka nufa da gangan zuwa wani wuri. Matsalar ita ce girman sararin sama. A ina, kuma yaushe, ya kamata mu saurara?

Wurin haɗuwa ba tare da kiran waya ba

Isabel Gerrard, ta tawagar Breakthrough Listen ta Jami’ar Oxford da kuma SETI Institute, da Sofia Sheikh, ta SETI Institute da Berkeley SETI Research Center, sun aro wani ra’ayi daga ka’idar wasanni: Schelling point. Shi ne mafita da ’yan wasa biyu ke kai wa a zahiri ba tare da sun yi magana da juna ba, saboda ya fito fili ga dukkansu.

Tunaninsu ya fara ne daga yadda muke gano duniyoyin da za a iya rayuwa a cikinsu: hanyar wucewa (transit method), wadda ke lura da ɗan raguwar hasken tauraro idan wata duniya ta wuce gabansa. Wata wayewa da ke amfani da wannan hanya za ta iya ganin Duniya tana wucewa gaban Rana sau ɗaya a shekara — idan dai tana kusa da sararin da’irar kewayen Duniya, wato ecliptic. Muhimmin lokacin shi ne lokacin da na’urar watsawa, Rana da Duniya suka jeru a layi ɗaya. Idan aka duba daga Duniya, na’urar watsawar a lokacin tana daidai a gaban Rana, a wurin da ke gaba da Rana (anti-solar point). Idan aka duba daga can, Duniya tana tsakiyar wucewarta. (Ra’ayin yana ɗauka cewa masu aiko da saƙon suna la’akari da lokacin tafiyar haske.)

Masu binciken SETI sun taɓa ba da shawarar sauraro a can a baya. A cewar marubutan, wannan kamfen ne ya fara duba wurin da ke gaba da Rana a zahiri.

Haskoki biyu don fallasa na jabu

Binciken yana amfani da Allen Telescope Array, wata hanyar sadarwa ta faranti masu faɗin mita 6.1 a Hat Creek, a arewacin California, wadda aka gina don SETI. Faranti 28 daga cikin 42 suna da sababbin na’urorin karɓa masu sanyi. Suna saurare tsakanin MHz 2,356 da 3,700, suna raba zangon zuwa tashoshi masu faɗin hertz 1.9.

Gwaje-gwaje uku ne ke raba yiwuwar fitilar sigina da hayaniya:

Kunkuntar zango. Tushen rediyo na halitta yana bazuwa a kan mitoci masu faɗi; sadarwarmu, kamar fitilar sigina, kunkuntu ne.
Zamewa (drift). Na’urar watsawa mai nisa da ke motsi idan aka kwatanta da mu tana sauya mita a hankali saboda tasirin Doppler. Tsangwama ta kusa da ƙyar take zamewa.
Wuri. Na’urar tana samar da haskoki biyu, ɗaya a kan wurin da ke gaba da Rana, ɗaya kuma a gefensa. Sigina na gaske daga nesa dole ne ya fi ƙarfi aƙalla sau 5.29 a cikin na farkon.

Ana duba kowane wuri na mintuna biyar, da daddare, lokacin da wurin da ke gaba da Rana yake sama da sararin ƙasa. Wata manhaja mai suna ATSAT, wadda aka fitar a matsayin buɗaɗɗen tushe (open source), ce ke yin tacewar. Ana duba waɗanda suka rage na ƙarshe da ido kuma a raba su zuwa rukuni shida: nau’ikan tsangwama huɗu, rukunin “wasu”, da “siginonin da suka cancanci kulawa”.

Daga miliyan 169 zuwa 25

Tsakanin watan Agustan 2024 da Agustan 2026, na’urar ta yi zama 126 da kusan awanni 876 tana duban sama: nunawa 11,313, kusan petabyte 1.3 na bayanai. Wannan ya rufe kusan kashi 12% na ecliptic.

Ga zama 84 da aka bincika zuwa yanzu, tacewar tana da tsauri:

An gano siginoni masu kunkuntar zango masu zamewa 168,721,405;
Miliyan 74.8 suka rage bayan an ɓoye mitocin da suka fi gurɓata;
Miliyan 27.2 bayan an kwatanta haskokin biyu;
Hotuna 11,212 don idanun ɗan Adam, an tantance 8,473 daga cikinsu zuwa yanzu.

Kusan dukkansu tsangwama ne: layukan kwance (46%), siginonin da ke dusashewa (43%), tubalai (1.9%). Siginoni 25 kawai — kashi 0.29% — ne kunkuntu, masu zamewa kuma masu ƙarfi a cikin hasken da ke kan wurin da ke gaba da Rana kaɗai. Suna kan mitoci 10 da wurare 10 a sararin sama, a cikin dare bakwai; 14 daga cikin 25 sun fito ne daga nunawa ɗaya.

Marubutan ba su sanar da wani ganowa ba. An tsara sake duba dukkan wurare 10.

Bincike da ake auna shi da petabytes

Rufe dukkan ecliptic yana nufin nunawa 87,660. Saboda rabin ecliptic yana cikin hasken rana a kowane lokaci, kuma shekarar Duniya ba cikakken adadin kwanaki ba ne, zai ɗauki aƙalla shekaru huɗu, fiye da zama 700 da fiye da petabyte 11 na bayanai — kamfen mafi girma da aka taɓa yi a kan Allen Telescope Array.

Marubutan sun yarda da wani rauni: an daidaita zangon mitocin da aka ɓoye a hanya, don haka ba a sarrafa dukkan zaman ta hanya ɗaya ba. An tsara cikakken sake bincike da saituna iri ɗaya, farawa daga shekarar 2025. A halin yanzu, dubban hotunan bakan (spectrograms) da aka yi wa lakabi da hannu sun zama kundin tsangwamar rediyo da zai iya horar da na’urorin rarrabewa na gaba. Ko siginoni 25 da suka tsira za su tsaya, za a sani ne kawai idan farantan suka sake juyawa zuwa waɗannan wurare 10 a sararin sama.