Recently, the gaze of astronomers from all over the world has focused on a new ultra-bright explosion in space. It is a type II supernova in the pinwheel galaxy (also known as M101). A Type II supernova is the disastrous end of a massive star’s life, and this nova, called SN 2023ixf, is the closest explosion to Earth in over a decade.

While many astronomers are interested in seeing the end of a star’s life, a small group are concerned about something else: Could this burst of light also help us find messages from extraterrestrials? A research team from the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence Institute (SETI) and the University of Washington believe this is possible.

In an article published in the preprint database arXiv and submitted to the journal American Astronomical Society Research NotesAstronomers speculate that intelligent aliens may be using the supernova as an opportunity to send a message to other civilizations fascinated by the dying star’s glow. Now, researchers are using radio telescopes to search for star systems near a supernova that could potentially contain habitable planets, in case there are advanced aliens trying to say hello.

The idea is similar to waiting for the server at a restaurant to look at you so you can wave to them to get the check. Earth is staring at a supernova – now, researchers ask, is someone trying to wave us off as our attention is diverted in that direction?

To answer this question, the team marked an area around the supernova called the “SETI ellipsoid,” an elliptical region of space where aliens living on potentially habitable planets can clearly see both the supernova and Earth. In this region, the team identified 100 stars visible from Earth that could potentially send us messages as we watch supernova decay.

Next, the team plans to listen for close-ups of these stars with two large radio telescopes—the Allen Telescope Array in California and the Green Bank Observatory in West Virginia—for the next few months in hopes of getting some technical signatures of the aliens.

Japanese astronomers discovered SN 2023ixf on May 19, and everyone from amateur astronomers to astrophysicists has been watching it ever since. This type of supernova only occurs in stars more than eight times massive than the Sun, and it shines for months to years, giving any intelligent alien a chance to send us a message. So, is this search likely to yield the first report of intelligent life beyond Earth? Probably not, the researchers admit in their paper, but it’s good practice for future events like this and we’ll never know if we don’t try.