David Garofalo’s analysis focusing on the relationship between black holes, star formation and planetary evolution offers a thought-provoking answer to the age-old question of intelligent extraterrestrial life.

Garofalo’s research relies on the merging of binary black holes, an event in the core of a galaxy that leads to the formation of an active galactic core, a supermassive black hole that emits a bright glow as it attracts matter. By carefully examining the complex interplay between black holes, star formation, and the subsequent appearance of planets, the physicist discovers a regularity that suggests that the peak of life’s development in the universe occurred billions of years ago.

Black holes helped find the key to understanding

One of the most important aspects of research is the behavior of black holes. Each black hole exhibits a unique response, and some stimulate star formation more than others. The main way a black hole interacts with its surroundings is relativistic jets – powerful streams of matter that move through the accretion disk and spread out into space.

However, in some cases, these relativistic jets become extremely energetic and emit enormous amounts of energy that prevents star formation. Such conditions and other factors influence the probability of star formation. A lower probability means fewer new stars and planets forming, reducing the chances of life forming. Additionally, the warming of galactic gas produces X-rays that penetrate the galaxy and alter planetary chemistry, suppressing the potential for life.

By including these and other variables in the behavior of black holes in the famous Drake equation, Garofalo concluded that optimal conditions for habitable star systems existed in isolated regions of the universe about 11 billion years ago, about 2.8 billion years after the big bang. . During this epoch, many isolated galaxies underwent mergers, leading to a flow of cold gas and eventually the formation of planets, some of which potentially supported the origin of life.

Looks like we missed an important party

In contrast, our planet Earth formed only 4.5 billion years ago, and intelligent life capable of interstellar communication has only now blossomed. If we assume that the average time for intelligent life to develop is 5 billion years, it turns out that the peak of the development of extraterrestrial civilizations occurred 7.8 billion years after the Big Bang, that is, about 6 billion years ago.

So humanity missed the golden age of extraterrestrial civilizations, but this awareness does not mean that we are alone in the vast expanse of the universe. It is possible that other human-like aliens may live elsewhere. Still, the task of discovering these civilizations becomes difficult when there is a lack of precise information on where to direct the search.