SETI Is Part of Astrobiology
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
Load more
Recommended publications
-
ASU Colloquium
New Frontiers in Artifact SETI: Waste Heat, Alien Megastructures, and "Tabby's Star" Jason T Wright Penn State University SESE Colloquium Arizona State University October 4, 2017 Contact (Warner Bros.) What is SETI? • “The Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence” • A field of study, like cosmology or planetary science • SETI Institute: • Research center in Mountain View, California • Astrobiology, astronomy, planetary science, radio SETI • Runs the Allen Telescope Array • Berkeley SETI Research Center: • Hosted by the UC Berkeley Astronomy Department • Mostly radio astronomy and exoplanet detection • Runs SETI@Home • Runs the $90M Breakthrough Listen Project Communication SETI The birth of Radio SETI 1960 — Cocconi & Morrison suggest interstellar communication via radio waves Allen Telescope Array Operated by the SETI Institute Green Bank Telescope Operated by the National Radio Astronomy Observatory Artifact SETI Dyson (1960) Energy-hungry civilizations might use a significant fraction of available starlight to power themselves Energy is never “used up”, it is just converted to a lower temperature If a civilization collects or generates energy, that energy must emerge at higher entropy (e.g. mid-infrared radiation) This approach is general: practically any energy use by a civilization should give a star (or galaxy) a MIR excess IRAS All-Sky map (1983) The discovery of infrared cirrus complicated Dyson sphere searches. Credit: NASA GSFC, LAMBDA Carrigan reported on the Fermilab Dyson Sphere search with IRAS: Lots of interesting red sources: -
Lecture-29 (PDF)
Life in the Universe Orin Harris and Greg Anderson Department of Physics & Astronomy Northeastern Illinois University Spring 2021 c 2012-2021 G. Anderson., O. Harris Universe: Past, Present & Future – slide 1 / 95 Overview Dating Rocks Life on Earth How Did Life Arise? Life in the Solar System Life Around Other Stars Interstellar Travel SETI Review c 2012-2021 G. Anderson., O. Harris Universe: Past, Present & Future – slide 2 / 95 Dating Rocks Zircon Dating Sedimentary Grand Canyon Life on Earth How Did Life Arise? Life in the Solar System Life Around Dating Rocks Other Stars Interstellar Travel SETI Review c 2012-2021 G. Anderson., O. Harris Universe: Past, Present & Future – slide 3 / 95 Zircon Dating Zircon, (ZrSiO4), minerals incorporate trace amounts of uranium but reject lead. Naturally occuring uranium: • U-238: 99.27% • U-235: 0.72% Decay chains: • 238U −→ 206Pb, τ =4.47 Gyrs. • 235U −→ 207Pb, τ = 704 Myrs. 1956, Clair Camron Patterson dated the Canyon Diablo meteorite: τ =4.55 Gyrs. c 2012-2021 G. Anderson., O. Harris Universe: Past, Present & Future – slide 4 / 95 Dating Sedimentary Rocks • Relative ages: Deeper layers were deposited earlier • Absolute ages: Decay of radioactive isotopes old (deposited last) oldest (depositedolder first) c 2012-2021 G. Anderson., O. Harris Universe: Past, Present & Future – slide 5 / 95 Grand Canyon: Earth History from 200 million - 2 billion yrs ago. Dating Rocks Life on Earth Earth History Timeline Late Heavy Bombardment Hadean Shark Bay Stromatolites Cyanobacteria Q: Earliest Fossils? Life on Earth O2 History Q: Life on Earth How Did Life Arise? Life in the Solar System Life Around Other Stars Interstellar Travel SETI Review c 2012-2021 G. -
Optical SETI: the All-Sky Survey
Professor van der Veen Project Scientist, UCSB Department of Physics, Experimental Cosmology Group class 4 [email protected] frequencies/wavelengths that get through the atmosphere The Planetary Society http://www.planetary.org/blogs/jason-davis/2017/20171025-seti-anybody-out-there.html THE ATMOSPHERE'S EFFECT ON ELECTROMAGNETIC RADIATION Earth's atmosphere prevents large chunks of the electromagnetic spectrum from reaching the ground, providing a natural limit on where ground-based observatories can search for SETI signals. Searching for technology that we have, or are close to having: Continuous radio searches Pulsed radio searches Targeted radio searches All-sky surveys Optical: Continuous laser and near IR searches Pulsed laser searches a hypothetical laser beacon watch now: https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=41&v=zuvyhxORhkI Theoretical physicist Freeman Dyson’s “First Law of SETI Investigations:” Every search for alien civilizations should be planned to give interesting results even when no aliens are discovered. Interview with Carl Sagan from 1978: Start at 6:16 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g- Q8aZoWqF0&feature=youtu.be Anomalous signal recorded by Big Ear Telescope at Ohio State University. Big Ear was a flat, aluminum dish three football fields wide, with reflectors at both ends. Signal was at 1,420 MHz, the hydrogen 21 cm ‘spin flip’ line. http://www.bigear.org/Wow30th/wow30th.htm May 15, 2015 A Russian observatory reports a strong signal from a Sun-like star. Possibly from advanced alien civilization. The RATAN-600 radio telescope in Zelenchukskaya, at the northern foot of the Caucasus Mountains location: star HD 164595 G-type star (like our Sun) 94.35 ly away, visually located in constellation Hercules 1 planet that orbits it every 40 days unusual radio signal detected – 11 GHz (2.7 cm) claim: Signal from a Type II Kardashev civilization Only one observation Not confirmed by other telescopes Russian Academy of Sciences later retracted the claim that it was an ETI signal, stating the signal came from a military satellite. -
Astrobiology and the Search for Life Beyond Earth in the Next Decade
Astrobiology and the Search for Life Beyond Earth in the Next Decade Statement of Dr. Andrew Siemion Berkeley SETI Research Center, University of California, Berkeley ASTRON − Netherlands Institute for Radio Astronomy, Dwingeloo, Netherlands Radboud University, Nijmegen, Netherlands to the Committee on Science, Space and Technology United States House of Representatives 114th United States Congress September 29, 2015 Chairman Smith, Ranking Member Johnson and Members of the Committee, thank you for the opportunity to testify today. Overview Nearly 14 billion years ago, our universe was born from a swirling quantum soup, in a spectacular and dynamic event known as the \big bang." After several hundred million years, the first stars lit up the cosmos, and many hundreds of millions of years later, the remnants of countless stellar explosions coalesced into the first planetary systems. Somehow, through a process still not understood, the laws of physics guiding the unfolding of our universe gave rise to self-replicating organisms − life. Yet more perplexing, this life eventually evolved a capacity to know its universe, to study it, and to question its own existence. Did this happen many times? If it did, how? If it didn't, why? SETI (Search for ExtraTerrestrial Intelligence) experiments seek to determine the dis- tribution of advanced life in the universe through detecting the presence of technology, usually by searching for electromagnetic emission from communication technology, but also by searching for evidence of large scale energy usage or interstellar propulsion. Technology is thus used as a proxy for intelligence − if an advanced technology exists, so to does the ad- vanced life that created it. -
CASKAR: a CASPER Concept for the SKA Phase 1 Signal Processing Sub-System
CASKAR: A CASPER concept for the SKA phase 1 Signal Processing Sub-system Francois Kapp, SKA SA Outline • Background • Technical – Architecture – Power • Cost • Schedule • Challenges/Risks • Conclusions Background CASPER Technology MeerKAT Who is CASPER? • Berkeley Wireless Research Center • Nancay Observatory • UC Berkeley Radio Astronomy Lab • Oxford University Astrophysics • UC Berkeley Space Sciences Lab • Metsähovi Radio Observatory, Helsinki University of • Karoo Array Telescope / SKA - SA Technology • NRAO - Green Bank • New Jersey Institute of Technology • NRAO - Socorro • West Virginia University Department of Physics • Allen Telescope Array • University of Iowa Department of Astronomy and • MIT Haystack Observatory Physics • Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics • Ohio State University Electroscience Lab • Caltech • Hong Kong University Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering • Cornell University • Hartebeesthoek Radio Astronomy Observatory • NAIC - Arecibo Observatory • INAF - Istituto di Radioastronomia, Northern Cross • UC Berkeley - Leuschner Observatory Radiotelescope • Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope • University of Manchester, Jodrell Bank Centre for • Institute of Astronomy and Astrophysics, Academia Sinica Astrophysics • National Astronomical Observatories, Chinese Academy of • Submillimeter Array Sciences • NRAO - Tucson / University of Arizona Department of • CSIRO - Australia Telescope National Facility Astronomy • Parkes Observatory • Center for Astrophysics and Supercomputing, Swinburne University -
Dr. Seth Shostak
Written Text for Congressional Testimony Advances in the Search for Life Seth Shostak, Senior Astronomer, SETI Institute 189 Bernardo Ave., #200, Mountain View, CA 94043, [email protected] It is no longer considered foolish to argue that biology could exist on some of the trillion other planets in our galaxy. Its discovery would produce a lasting change in our perceptions, demonstrating that life is not confined to our world. We would know that biology is not some sort of miracle, but a commonplace – an ubiquitous, cosmic infection. The discovery of intelligence elsewhere would be of even greater import, as we have always considered humans to be special, even the pinnacle of Creation. To learn that there are others out there – others whose cognitive abilities exceed our own – would be a discovery that would recalibrate how our species views itself. It would also have consequences that can be only vaguely gauged, in much the way that the discovery of the New World led to societal changes that were largely unpredictable at the time of its happening. However, the search for extraterrestrial intelligence, known by the acronym SETI, has been pursued for more than a half century with no unambiguous, positive result. We haven’t found conclusive proof of any intelligent (or even unintelligent) life beyond the confines of Earth. Claims that our planet is being visited by alien beings, while popular with the citizenry, are not considered credible by most scientists. However, recent developments in both astronomy and technology are accelerating the speed of SETI searches, and it is hardly fantastic to suggest that we could find evidence of cosmic company within a few decades. -
Vol 25 No 3, Summer 2019
SearchLites Vol. 25 No. 3, Summer 2019 The Quarterly Newsletter of The SETI League, Inc. Offices: 433 Liberty Street In Memoriam: Little Ferry NJ Dr. Owen K. Garriott, W5LFL 07643 USA 22 November 1930 – 15 April 2019 Phone: (201) 641-1770 Facsimile: (201) 641-1771 Email: [email protected] Web: www.setileague.org President Richard Factor Registered Agent: Anthony Agnello Secretary/Treasurer: A. Heather Wood Executive Director Emeritus: H. Paul Shuch, Ph.D. Trustee: Martin Schreiber, CPA Advisory Board: Anthony Agnello KT6W photo Greg Bear Paul Davies, Ph.D. The SETI League is saddened to report the death in April of Owen Garriott, Robert S. Dixon, Ph.D. Frank D. Drake, Ph.D. W5LFL, at age 88. Owen was an electrical engineering professor at Stanford, a Claudio Maccone, Ph.D. Skylab and Space Shuttle astronaut, and a lifelong radio amateur. In December Clifford Stoll, Ph.D. 1983, he became the first ham to operate in space. In this early 1984 picture, Owen is exchanging QSL cards with H. Paul Shuch (now SETI League Executive Direc- SearchLites, ISSN 1096-5599, tor Emeritus), following Owen's historic STS-9 mission. is the Quarterly Newsletter of The SETI League, Inc., a membership-supported, non- Garriott became a licensed radio amateur at the age of 15. It was ham radio profit [501(c)(3)], educational that prompted him to become an electrical engineer, and ultimately one of NASA’s and scientific corporation, dedi- first scientist-astronauts in 1965. He joined the space program after having served cated to the electromagnetic Search for Extra-Terrestrial as an electronics officer in the US navy, and as a professor of electrical engineer- Intelligence. -
Astrobiology: the Origin, Evolu'on, Distribu'on, and Future of Life in The
Astrobiology: the origin, evolu3on, distribu3on, and future of life in the universe Outline of this class: Life, extreme life on earth Where else in solar system could life exist? Mars, Titan& Europa, Habitable zone (review), difficulty with es3mang probability of life, Drake equaon for es3mang likelihood SETI: Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence Reminder: • No class this Wednesday, Happy Thanksgiving! • Next Monday: primarily review • Next Wed: YOU each do class presentaon (30 % of your final) • Mon, Dec 9 Final exam. Would you all like to follow this with a potluck supper? (ColeSe and I will contribute major items!) No need to cook something! What defines life? • the capacity to grow, • metabolize (convert food to energy) • respond (to s3muli), • adapt • reproduce What is necessary? Recent discoveries of life under extreme condi3ons on earth (extremophiles) show that neither sunlight nor oxygen are required yellowstone Yellowstone Naonal Park: microbes live in boiling water (90 C). Other pools are extremely acidic, yet microbes and bacteria thrive there Life in extreme condi3ons on earth Black smoker, deep in the ocean: an example of life that has no need of sunlight: From vents deep in the ocean hydrogen sulfide provide energy for bacteria, which in turn feed clams, tube worms (up to 10 ` long) Bacteria up to a mile underground: water seeps in, and bacteria generates energy from chemical reac3ons A NASA favorite: Tardigrade (water bear) that survive at temps from absolute zero to above boiling, pressures up to 6x that of deepest ocean trenches, ionizing radiaon. They can go without food or water for more than 10 years and then revive. -
The Square Kilometre Array (SKA) Will Be an I
INVITED PAPER TheSquareKilometreArray This telescope, to be the largest in the world, will probe the evolution of black holes as well as the basic properties, birth and death of the Universe. By Peter E. Dewdney, Peter J. Hall, Richard T. Schilizzi, and T. Joseph L. W. Lazio ABSTRACT | The Square Kilometre Array (SKA) will be an I. INTRODUCTION ultrasensitive radio telescope, built to further the understand- Advances in astronomy over the past decades have brought ing of the most important phenomena in the Universe, the international community to the verge of charting a including some pertaining to the birth and eventual death of complete history of the Universe. In order to achieve this the Universe itself. Over the next few years, the SKA will make goal, the world community is pooling resources and ex- the transition from an early formative to a well-defined design. pertise to design and construct powerful observatories that This paper outlines how the scientific challenges are translated will probe the entire electromagnetic spectrum, from radio to into technical challenges, how the application of recent gamma-rays, and even beyond the electromagnetic spectrum, technology offers the potential of affordably meeting these studying gravitational waves, cosmic rays, and neutrinos. challenges, and how the choices of technology will ultimately The Square Kilometre Array (SKA) will be one of these be made. The SKA will be an array of coherently connected telescopes, a radio telescope with an aperture of up to a antennas spread over an area about 3000 km in extent, with an million square meters. The SKA was formulated from the 2 aggregate antenna collecting area of up to 106 m at centimeter very beginning as an international, astronomer-led (Bgrass and meter wavelengths. -
Nasa and the Search for Technosignatures
NASA AND THE SEARCH FOR TECHNOSIGNATURES A Report from the NASA Technosignatures Workshop NOVEMBER 28, 2018 NASA TECHNOSIGNATURES WORKSHOP REPORT CONTENTS 1 INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................................................................................... 1 What are Technosignatures? .................................................................................................................................... 2 What Are Good Technosignatures to Look For? ....................................................................................................... 2 Maturity of the Field ................................................................................................................................................... 5 Breadth of the Field ................................................................................................................................................... 5 Limitations of This Document .................................................................................................................................... 6 Authors of This Document ......................................................................................................................................... 6 2 EXISTING UPPER LIMITS ON TECHNOSIGNATURES ....................................................................................................... 9 Limits and the Limitations of Limits ........................................................................................................................... -
The Allen Telescope Array for SETI and Radio Astronomy Jill Tarter
The Allen Telescope Array for SETI and Radio Astronomy Jill Tarter Peter Backus Center for SETI Research SETI Institute USA [email protected] The first 42 antennas of the Allen Telescope Array (ATA-42) are beginning to collect data at the Hat Creek Radio Observatory in Northern California. The array is being built and operated as a partnership between the SETI Institute and the Radio Astronomy Lab at UC Berkeley. The ATA will eventually include 350 antennas and is the first radio telescope designed to enable traditional radio astronomy and SETI observations simultaneously in a multiple-concurrent mode of operation. The ATA collecting area and sensitivity will be equivalent to a 114 m telescope (the ATA-42 has a 40 m equivalent diameter). Because the array is composed of small antennas, that will be spread as far apart as 900 m, it will observe a very large field of view (3.5º FWHM at 1 GHz) and achieve excellent spatial resolution (~100 arc seconds at 1 GHz). The receiver system for the array provides continuous frequency coverage from 0.5 to 11 GHz; four separate frequency bands of 100 MHz bandwidth can be observed simultaneously. Electronics enable the formation of four dual-polarization phased array beams at each frequency (32 beams total), and two spectral-imaging correlators can be used to make maps of the entire field of view at two frequencies. This paper describes the ATA and how it will be used as a wideangle, polychromatic radio-camera for astronomy surveys and for SETI, starting with a search of 20 square degrees of the galactic plane over the entire "water hole" from 1420 to 1720 MHz. -
Astrobiology and the Search for Life Beyond Earth in the Next Decade
ASTROBIOLOGY AND THE SEARCH FOR LIFE BEYOND EARTH IN THE NEXT DECADE HEARING BEFORE THE COMMITTEE ON SCIENCE, SPACE, AND TECHNOLOGY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES ONE HUNDRED FOURTEENTH CONGRESS FIRST SESSION September 29, 2015 Serial No. 114–40 Printed for the use of the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology ( Available via the World Wide Web: http://science.house.gov U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE 97–759PDF WASHINGTON : 2016 For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Publishing Office Internet: bookstore.gpo.gov Phone: toll free (866) 512–1800; DC area (202) 512–1800 Fax: (202) 512–2104 Mail: Stop IDCC, Washington, DC 20402–0001 COMMITTEE ON SCIENCE, SPACE, AND TECHNOLOGY HON. LAMAR S. SMITH, Texas, Chair FRANK D. LUCAS, Oklahoma EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON, Texas F. JAMES SENSENBRENNER, JR., ZOE LOFGREN, California Wisconsin DANIEL LIPINSKI, Illinois DANA ROHRABACHER, California DONNA F. EDWARDS, Maryland RANDY NEUGEBAUER, Texas SUZANNE BONAMICI, Oregon MICHAEL T. MCCAUL, Texas ERIC SWALWELL, California MO BROOKS, Alabama ALAN GRAYSON, Florida RANDY HULTGREN, Illinois AMI BERA, California BILL POSEY, Florida ELIZABETH H. ESTY, Connecticut THOMAS MASSIE, Kentucky MARC A. VEASEY, Texas JIM BRIDENSTINE, Oklahoma KATHERINE M. CLARK, Massachusetts RANDY K. WEBER, Texas DON S. BEYER, JR., Virginia BILL JOHNSON, Ohio ED PERLMUTTER, Colorado JOHN R. MOOLENAAR, Michigan PAUL TONKO, New York STEPHEN KNIGHT, California MARK TAKANO, California BRIAN BABIN, Texas BILL FOSTER, Illinois BRUCE WESTERMAN, Arkansas BARBARA COMSTOCK, Virginia GARY PALMER, Alabama BARRY LOUDERMILK, Georgia RALPH LEE ABRAHAM, Louisiana DARIN LAHOOD, Illinois (II) C O N T E N T S September 29, 2015 Page Witness List ............................................................................................................. 2 Hearing Charter .....................................................................................................