SETI, an acronym for the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence, is one of the most fascinating scientific projects out there. Human beings have been trying for decades to contact other life forms in the universe, but so far the results have been null.
Now, however, SETI has joined the National Science Foundation’s Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array (VLA), which may significantly boost its chances of finding life on other planets.
The search for extraterrestrial intelligence
The search for extraterrestrial life is one of the most exciting and mysterious scientific undertakings. The possibility of finding another form of life in the universe raises many questions and challenges for scientists. While we don’t have a clear idea of ​​how many alien life forms exist in our galaxy, SETI scientists have been focused on understanding how alien civilizations might be trying to make contact. This is done by using increasingly sensitive instruments and developing strategies to find intelligent signals hidden in cosmic noise.
The VLA and its VLASS project
The Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array (VLA) is an array of 28 radio antennas that monitor radio emissions from 80% of the sky through the VLASS project. This project has allowed the collection of large amounts of data, making it ideal for use by SETI. The VLA, located near Socorro, New Mexico, has been in operation since 1980 and has been a valuable tool for astronomy in general.
COSMIC: The new SETI tool
SETI has partnered with the National Radio Astronomy Observatory and the Breakthrough Listen initiative to install a new system called the Commensal Open-Source Multimode Interferometer Cluster (COSMIC). This system takes advantage of the data stream collected by the VLA and scans narrow radio channels for technosignatures that could indicate the presence of an alien radio signal. COSMIC also searches for pulses and transient signals by scanning approximately 10 million stars for intelligent signals.
promising results
The use of COSMIC and the VLA has been able to increase the effectiveness of SETI by a factor of 1,000. To test its effectiveness, the system focused on radio signals from the Voyager 1 spacecraft, which is located at a distance of 24 billion kilometers from Earth. COSMIC was not only able to detect the spacecraft, but was also able to map its carrier and sidebands.
The collaboration between SETI and the VLA is a promising step toward the search for extraterrestrial life. Although no signals indicating the presence of extraterrestrial life have been detected, the ability of COSMIC and the VLA to analyze large amounts of information may hold surprises in the future.
Learn more at seti.org
Image: VLA/NRAO
