Microwave SETI

From TinWiki.org

Microwave SETI is a branch of science that is attempting to detect signals from intelligent extraterrestrial life forms through the use of dish antenna designed to detect sharply defined modulating signals that won't appear to be a natural phenomena.

1 History
2 Project Ozma
3 Project Beta
4 Also On tinWiki
5 External Links

[edit]

History

For more than 35 years a number of scans have been performed to try to detect signals in the microwave spectrum in hopes of finding an artificial signal. Though few telescopes are dedicated to purely searching this wave length of communication a variety of major radio telescopes have committed time and resources in the attempt to detect possible signals beamed towards Earth. This area of research even hopes that a transmission not intended for Earth but a communication between other civilizations could be intercepted.

Any unnatural signal would be of interest to the entire SETI community.

[edit]

Project Ozma

Green Bank Radio Telescope

The first microwave SETI survey was conducted in 1960 by Frank Drake of Cornell University using the Green Bank Radio Observatory in West Virginia. The project was name after the fictional Princess Ozma inspired by a book by Frank L. Bahm that was made into a 1939 film called The Wizard Of Oz. Princess Ozma used radio to communicate with Oz.

This early attempt only targeted the stars Tau Ceti and Epsilon Eridani, both approximately 11 light years from Earth. No results came from this experiment and only 150 hours of observations were made.

[edit]

Project Beta

Harvard Radio Telescope

Using a 26 meter radio telescope Paul Horowitz of Harvard University started observing the microwave spectrum in October of 1995. Further credit for this project is given to the designers and those that constructed the telescope including Derrick Bass, Greg Galperin, Neil Hendin, Paul Horowitz, Darren Leigh, Suhail Shah, Nick Shectman, Jonathan Weintroub, Eric Wey and Bill Yerazunis.

No conclusive results have come from this project to date.

[edit]