Optical SETI at Harvard-Smithsonian
Abstract
A high-intensity pulsed laser, teamed with a moderate sized transmitting telescope, forms an efficient interstellar beacon. To a distant observer in the direction of its slender beam, such a laser transmitter, built with "Earth 2000" technology only, would appear (during its brief pulse) a thousand times brighter than our sun in broadband visible light; even at ranges of 1000 light years a single nanosecond laser pulse would deliver roughly a thousand photons to a 10-meter receiving telescope. We have built a photometer to search for such unresolved pulses, and are using it in a piggyback targeted search of some 2500 nearby solar-type stars. The photometer receives about 1/3 of the light focused by the 1.5-meter optical reflector, otherwise unused by the primary experiment (a stellar radial-velocity survey). A beamsplitter followed by a pair of fast hybrid avalanche detectors is triggered in coincidence to record the time and intensity profile of large pulses. In the first year of operation the system has made ~8500 observations of ~2500 separate stellar candidates, amounting to 50 days of cumulative observation time. We review those observations, and suggest follow-on experiments.
Additional Information
© 2000 Astronomical Society of the Pacific. Provided by the NASA Astrophysics Data System. We graciously recognize the enlightened support of The Planetary Society, The Bosack-Kruger Foundation, and The SETI Institute.Attached Files
Published - 2000ASPC__213__545H.pdf
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Additional details
- Eprint ID
- 78771
- Resolver ID
- CaltechAUTHORS:20170705-135151564
- The Planetary Society (TPS)
- Bosack-Kruger Foundation
- SETI Institute
- Created
-
2017-07-05Created from EPrint's datestamp field
- Updated
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2019-10-31Created from EPrint's last_modified field
- Series Name
- Astronomical Society of the Pacific Conference Series
- Series Volume or Issue Number
- 213