Seti: how we’re searching for alien life at previously unexplored frequencies

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Search for extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI) is a scientific field that aims to detect intelligent life outside of Earth. SETI includes monitoring electromagnetic radiation for signs of transmissions from other civilizations. 

Some ways that SETI is searching for alien life at previously unexplored frequencies include: 

  • Nenufar: A sister survey that operates at 30-85 MHz 
  • Lofar observations: Will increase the volume of the survey by a factor of ten over the course of the coming year 

A major challenge for SETI projects is to distinguish natural, artificial, and potentially extraterrestrial signals from one another

There are many ways forward for technosignature searches at low frequencies. Currently, there is a sister survey (Nenufar) being carried out on that operates at 30-85 MHz. Along with this, further Lofar observations will increase the volume of the survey by a factor of ten over the course of the coming year

An optical SETI signal could be: 

  • Pulsed light: Brief bursts of light that can convey information through patterns 
  • Continuous wave (CW) light: A steady emission of light that can have variations in intensity or wavelength to convey information 
  • Short bursts of intense laser light 

Optical SETI uses optical telescopes to search for signals from extraterrestrial civilizations. Some SETI researchers believe that alien civilizations might use powerful lasers for interstellar communications.

NenuFAR is a large, low-frequency radio telescope located at the Nançay Radio Observatory in France. It operates in the 10–85 MHz frequency range and is considered one of the most powerful radio telescopes in the world. NenuFAR was designed in Nançay with international collaboration. The antenna radiators were based on the LWA antenna design, and the preamplifiers were designed in France.

The Low-Frequency Array (LOFAR) is a radio interferometer that observes the radio universe.  LOFAR is located in the Netherlands and across Europe. It uses a phased-array design to collect data from a large number of small radio antennas.  LOFAR can observe frequencies between 10–240 MHz. 

LOFAR observations can provide clues about the following: 

  • Cosmic rays and magnetic fields: The origins of these fields 
  • Stars and planets: The birth of these celestial bodies 
  • Life: The origin of life 

Some LOFAR observations include: 

  • Ionospheric disturbances A slow-moving disturbance with internal substructure 
  • Lightning Initial breakdown pulses (IBPs) are generated during the initiation of lightning 
  • X-ray cavities These cavities are formed by the radio lobes of the central active galactic nucleus (AGN) 
  • Radio burst source sizes Low frequency radio wave scattering and refraction can affect the size and position of radio sources in the solar corona

LOFAR’s technique involves recording MHz radio pulses to measure the properties of cosmic rays. LOFAR also uses the aperture synthesis technique to combine phased arrays. 

LOFAR’s technique also involves: 

  • Recording incoming signals at a high data rate 
  • Correlating separate signals to create sky maps using supercomputers 
  • Digitizing electric signals from LOFAR stations 
  • Transporting digitized signals to a central digital processor 
  • Combining signals in software to map the sky 

LOFAR is considered a “software telescope”.

LOFAR is searching for: 

Radio galaxies, Quasars, Radio exoplanets, Reionization of neutral hydrogen, Relativistic outbursts, Pulsars

LOFAR’s ability to map large areas of the sky helps it look for variable radio sources. It can also follow up on events first detected by other facilities. 

LOFAR’s other searches include: 

  • High redshift radio sources 
  • Cosmic radio transients 
  • Tidal disruption events 

Project Ozma was the first systematic attempt to detect radio signals from other stars. It was launched in April 1960 by Cornell University astronomer Frank Drake. The project ran for one month at the National Radio Astronomy Observatory in Green Bank, West Virginia.

According to Quizlet, the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI) program involves listening for radio signals from advanced civilizations

Scientists have been using radio telescopes to search for extraterrestrial signals since the 1960s. They have focused on a region in the radio spectrum called the water hole. 

The Breakthrough Listen initiative has made the search for extraterrestrial intelligence more prominent. Scientists are developing techniques to detect “technosignatures” that could indicate the presence of extraterrestrial technologies. These signatures could include: 

  • The chemical composition of a planet’s atmosphere 
  • Laser emissions 
  • Structures orbiting other stars 

The NIROSETI instrument uses two near-infrared photodiodes to detect fast infrared radiation pulses. The near-infrared regime is a good spectral region for searching for extraterrestrial signals. (Full article source google)

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