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Old February 21st 04, 12:46 PM
Dat's Me
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On Wed, 18 Feb 2004 16:18:02 -0800, Steve Dufour wrote:


So probes are a possibility. And maybe one was launched our way, sometime
in the last two billion years. We might still be able to find it, if we
knew where to look. Should we make a careful investigation of the asteroid
belt? The Earth-Moon Lagrange points? Perhaps parked in a nearby orbit, or
on the Earth itself?

We just don't know, and that makes the search space dreadfully large.
Probes are not crazy, but how to find one is hazy.


Try looking above and/or below the ecliptic. Why? Since the bulk of the solar
system's matter appears to reside in the ecliptic, logically any species
that is starting to explore their solar system isn't going to take much
notice of the 'basically' empty space. Of course they'll be interested in
anything outside of the ecliptic, if only to be sure it isn't likely to
impact their planet, but, if its not too odd, they'll largely ignore it.

They're going to be more interested in checking out the planets (and their
moons), especially if some of those planets/satellites are potentially
capable of supporting (or having done so) life.