'ET phone Birr' - Offaly might answer the call of alien life

Since the Third Earl of Rosse began work on his world-changing Leviathan telescope in the early 1840's Birr has been at the centre of the world of celestial exploration - and scientists say if aliens make contact with earth it will be detected in Birr.

The LOFAR radio telescope in Birr is the most westerly telescope in the wider European network of similar telescopes called the International LOFAR Telescope (ILT) which stretches from Ireland to the town of Bałdy in eastern Poland, along with in its six partner countries and 50 antenna stations spread across the continent.

The LOFAR telescopes are some of the most advanced in astronomy and were designed to research the origin of the first galaxies, black holes and gas clouds seen at the birth of our universe.

However, if ET ever decides to pick up the phone again and call his second home on earth - that call will most likely be answered in Offaly - not by his old pal Elliot in the United States! This is because the radio telescope in Birr, particularly due to its western orientation and power, will be the first to detect any signal coming from the expanse of space.

A former NASA director said the LOFAR array in Birr could be the first to detect any low-frequency radio waves from space emitted by the technology of an intelligent civilisation.

Head of the Radio Telescope Project in Birr, Professor Peter Gallagher gave a sold-out lecture at the Dunsink Observatory in Castleknock, Dublin on Monday and was joined by former director of Nasa’s Ames Research Centre, Professor Pete Worden.

Prof Worden said: “Two years ago, we thought we had our first signal, it came from the Parkes Radio telescope in Australia We are now pretty much convinced that was (caused by) interference, but it is just as likely that the next one will be from the I-LOFAR (in Birr).”

“It is virtually certain that we are going to find life, both in our solar system, we have a number of places we’re looking and a life-bearing planet around one of the nearby stars, within a decade,” Professor Worden said.