SETI searches for alien signals synchronized with supernova 1987A

A yellow oval is intersected by the outline of a darker brown/yellow circle. inside the oval three vertical and one horizontal ovals, creating a 3d look. at either end of the oval are small circles colored like earth and a smaller blue dot. the pair hang in space.

If aliens are synchronizing their signals with light coming from supernova 1987A, then the search for extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI) is on the case. Scientists with the institution say they may be able to find such signals by looking for them on what's called the "SETI Ellipsoid."

About 167,600 years ago, a blue supergiant star exploded as a supernova in the Large Magellanic Cloud, which is a small, satellite galaxy that neighbors our own Milky Way. Light emanating from that supernova raced through space at 299,792,458 meters per second (186,282 miles per second).