Are aliens watching us right now?

One of the most popular tropes in science fiction is that aliens are spying on us. From classic UFO flicks like Close Encounters With the Third Kind to Star Trek's Vulcans, who observe Earth’s technological progression in secret for years, humans have long been fascinated by the idea that our cosmic brethren are aware of our existence, watching and waiting for the right moment to make contact.

But if an advanced extraterrestrial species really wanted to keep an eye on humanity, sending a cloaked ship to hang out in orbit is a pretty high-effort way to do so: It’d be much easier for aliens to watch us from the comfort of their planet using telescopes. Human astronomers, after all, are already scanning the cosmos for radio waves transmitted by advanced lifeforms. At the same time, exoplanet researchers are developing powerful new telescopes that can detect “bio-signatures” like methane in the atmospheres of distant worlds.

According to a new study, there are a number of places in our interstellar backyard where intelligent aliens — should they exist — might be doing the same things.