This book discusses the search for extraterrestrial structures that may be of artificial origin. However, the search for artificial, extraterrestrial objects is complicated by the extremely diverse appearances of natural celestial bodies. Nevertheless, the targeted search for extraterrestrial machines of enormous dimensions is a possibility for discovering extraterrestrial intelligence. In fact, it is possible to interpret some observations of unusual celestial objects either in connection with exotic natural phenomena or as technological signatures.
Extraterrestrial machines could be technologically much more advanced than their terrestrial counterparts. In the second explanatory approach, modified stars could serve as stellar machines, entire planets could be redesigned according to the needs of their inhabitants, or gigantic megastructures could obscure their home stars.
Signatures of extraterrestrial machines would also be conceivable in our solar system. Accordingly, observations of some moving celestial objects could sometimes be interpreted in connection with interstellar space probes or extraterrestrial space debris. In addition to the idea of possible observed technological signatures and their natural and artificial explanatory models, this book also compares related terrestrial technological projects with the corresponding observations. In this context, the discovery of extraterrestrial machines could even change the course of human technological development.
The author Wilfried Domainko holds a doctorate in astrophysics and worked for several years as a group leader in the field of ground-based gamma-ray astronomy at the Max Planck Institute for Nuclear Physics in Heidelberg. He is currently a technical member of the German Patent and Trademark Office in Munich in the field of artificial intelligence and autonomous driving.
