Scientists at Cornell University and the American Museum of Natural History have identified 2,034 nearby star-systems—within the small cosmic distance of 326 light-years—that could find Earth merely by watching our pale blue dot cross our sun.
The Breakthrough Starshot initiative is an ambitious project underway that is looking to launch a nano-sized spacecraft toward the closest exoplanet detected around Proxima Centauri—4.2 light-years from us—and fully characterize that world.
"One might imagine that worlds beyond Earth that have already detected us, are making the same plans for our planet and solar system," said Faherty. "This catalog is an intriguing thought experiment for which one of our neighbors might be able to find us."