Can YOU find a message from aliens? Stephen Hawking backed $100m search for ET publishes first data online - a day after revealing plans to visit nearby star system

Stephen Hawking and billionaire Yuri Milner are spearheading efforts to find alien life.

Now, the first results from a $100 million 'Breakthrough Listen' mission to uncover signals from ET have been released.

The announcement was made during the launch of their second initiative yesterday, dubbed Breakthrough Starshot, which aims to send nanocraft to our neighbouring solar system.

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Breakthrough Listen is a search for intelligent life using two of the world's most powerful telescopes. It was launched in January with the aim of scouring one million of the closest stars to Earth for faint signals thrown out into space by intelligent life beyond our own world. Pictured are piral galaxies of the Maffei Group

Our neighbouring solar system, Alpha Centauri, is 4 light-years away, or 25 trillion miles.

This particular mission, however, has cast the net much farther.

The Breakthrough Listen team started collected data in January using the Green Bank Radio Telescope in West Virginia and Lick Observatory's Automated Planet Finder in California.

Studies made so far by Breakthrough Listen include most of the stars within 16 light years of Earth.

It includes stars such as 51 Pegasi, a sun-like star located 51 light-years from Earth in the constellation of Pegasus surrounded by 'hot Jupiter' planets.

The search also targeted around 40 of the nearest spiral galaxies, including members of the Maffei Group in the direction of the constellation Cassiopeia.

Stars within 16 light years accessible only from the Southern Hemisphere, such as Alpha Centauri, will be observed by the end of the year with the Parkes Telescope.

'Breakthrough Listen is officially on the air and scanning the skies for signs of intelligent life,' said Milner.

'It is a comprehensive effort, made possible by the tremendous scientific and technological advancements we've witnessed since the early days of similar efforts.

'Now, we join our trailblazing colleagues and ask people worldwide to review our collected data and explore the universe with us.'

Data from the telescopes uploaded to the Breakthrough Initiatives website are indexed by date of recording and object name.

Stephen Hawking (left) and billionaire Yuri Milner (right) have their sights set on finding alien life. Now, the first results from a $100 million 'Breakthrough Listen' mission to uncover signals from ET have been released

Studies made so far by Breakthrough Listen include most of the stars within 16 light years of Earth. It includes stars such as 51 Pegasi, a sun-like star located 51 light-years from Earth in the constellation of Pegasus surrounded by 'hot Jupiter' planets. Pictured is an artist's impression of a hot jupiter

The team are urging scientists and those with computer science skills to analyse raw data from the telescopes to help them make discoveries.

Breakthrough Listen will collect data over a 10-year period from a network of the world's most powerful radio and optical telescopes to yield vast, full-sky signal monitoring.

It will collect more data in one day than previously had been collected in one year.

Search capacity will be 50 times more sensitive, cover 10 times more of the sky, 5 times more of the radio spectrum, and at speeds 100 times faster.

'For the first time we will obtain a comprehensive Seti search of our galactic neighbourhood,' said Pete Worden, executive director of the Breakthrough Initiatives.

'Equally important, the public and experts around the world can obtain the data and help determine if we are alone.'

It follows on the heels of a separate announcement yesterday in which Hawking, Milner and Mark Zuckerberg launched the Breakthrough Starshot project.  

The $100m project will rely on tiny so-called 'nanocraft' flying on sails pushed by beams of light through the universe.

They will travel to the Alpha Centauri star system 25 trillion miles (4.37 light years) away on a twenty year mission to look for alien life. 

The Alpha Centauri star system is 25 trillion miles (4.37 light years) away (right). With today's fastest spacecraft, it would take about 30,000 years to get there. Breakthrough Starshot aims to establish whether a gram-scale nanocraft, on a sail pushed by a light beam, can fly over a thousand times faster (left)

The project, dubbed Breakthrough Starshot, will rely on tiny so-called 'nanocraft' flying on sails, similar to the one illustrated, pushed by beams of light. Each of these tiny craft will carry cameras and a built in GPS

'For the first time in human history, we can do more than look at the stars, we can reach them,' said Yuri Milner, founder of the Breakthrough Initiatives. 

Each of these 'interstellar sailboats' is expected to carry cameras and a built in GPS to search deep space for habitable planets. 

'55 years ago today, Yuri Gagarin became the first human in space. 

'Today, we are preparing for the next great leap.'  

The $100 million research and engineering program will seek proof of concept for using light beam to propel super lightweight nanocraft to 20 per cent of light speed.

A possible fly-by mission could reach Alpha Centauri within about 20 years of its launch, Milner said, and also revealed Mark Zuckerberg is joining the project's board.

These craft are designed to take images of planets and other scientific data in our nearest star system, Alpha Centauri, just over 20 years after their launch.

Astronomers estimate that there is a reasonable chance of an Earth-like planet existing in the 'habitable zones' of Alpha Centaur's three-star system.

'Starchip is about the size of a postage stamp, although a little bit thicker. It can be massed produced at the cost of an iPhone,' said Milner. 

The light beamer is modular and scalable. 

Once it is assembled and the technology matures, the cost of each launch is expected to fall to a few hundred thousand dollars.

The research and engineering phase is expected to last a number of years.  

When in orbit, the tiny craft would unfold thin sails and then be propelled by powerful laser beams from Earth

'The thing would look like the chip from your cell phone with this very thin gauzy light sail,' said Nasa's Pete Worden. 'It would be something like 10, 12 feet across'. Pictured on the left is Yuri Milner holding a prototype chip and on the right is an aritst's impression of what the 'interstellar sailboat' would look like

A still image taken from a video rendering shows phased arrays of lasers which could be used on Breakthrough Starshot, a $100 million research and engineering program aiming to demonstrate proof of concept for light-propelled spacecrafts

Breakthrough Starshot is likely to target Alpha Centauri, the closest star system to Earth, where an an Earth-like planet may exist within its 'habitable zone.' It could also help confirm the existence of Planet Nine (illustrated)

'For the first time in human history, we can do more than look at the stars, we can reach them,' said Yuri Milner (left), founder of the Breakthrough Initiatives. 'Earth is a wonderful place, but it might not last forever,' added Stephen Hawking (right), 'Sooner or later, we must look to the stars'

WHO IS YURI MILNER? 

A onetime physics PhD student in Moscow who dropped out to move to the United States in 1990, Milner is one of a handful of technology tycoons devoting time and money to space exploration.

Yuri Milner was born into a Jewish family on 11 November 1961 in Moscow and studied theoretical physics at Moscow State University, graduating in 1985.

He began his business career selling illegal DOS computers in the Soviet Union. When the national government collapsed enrolled at Wharton School of Business to earn an MBA.

He then went on to work for the World Bank in Washington, D.C., as a Russian banking specialist tasked with the development of the private sector banking.

He rose up in the banking world, and from 1997 to 2000, Milner was Director General of the investment fund New Trinity Investments

But his real success came when he founded investment firms Digital Sky Technologies (DST) - now called Mail.ru Group - and DST Global.

DST Global has invested in a number of major technology firms including Facebook, Spotify, Twitter and Alibaba.

An aerial view of Yuri Milner's mansion. Milner currently works as an investor and has earned his fortune from backing successful technology firms such as Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. The Russian space enthusiast says he has replaced all the artwork in his $65 million mansion in San Francisco with 50 flat screen TVs.

In 2012, Milner established The Breakthrough Prize - a set of international awards recognize three fields of endeavour: Fundamental Physics, Life Sciences and Mathematics.

Laureates receive $3 million each in prize money, making the Breakthrough Prizes the largest scientific awards in the world.

Earlier this year, he teamed up with Stephen Hawking in the search for alien life as part of the 'Breakthrough Initiatives.'

The $100 million quest will see telescopes scour one million of the closest stars to Earth for faint signals thrown out into space by intelligent life beyond our own world.

As part of his long-term vision, Milner believes that the internet will develop into a 'global brain' that will work as a type of nervous system for Earth.