Laser could be used to hide a planet transiting its star
DOI: 10.1063/PT.5.029709
New Scientist : Assuming a distant star is aligned with Earth’s orbital plane, inhabitants of that star system would see Earth transiting the Sun for about 10 hours per year. According to David Kipping and Alex Teachey of Columbia University, a 30 MW laser pointed at that star from Earth would be able to mask evidence of the transit, hiding Earth from any aliens looking for exoplanets. Alternatively, the researchers say that the same laser could be used to warp the sunlight in a way that would act as a signal to indicate the presence of intelligent life on Earth. Kipping and Teachey now want to look through data collected by the Kepler space telescope to see if any aliens have arrived at the same idea of trying to cloak or amplify transit signals.
