There are several programs currently receiving radio signals from intelligent life in space. Although our search today is more sophisticated and power-hungry than ever before, researchers still work like finding a needle in a haystack.
Today, biologists generally believe that life exists everywhere in the universe. Are species as intelligent as ours universal or long-lived? There is only one way, and that is to listen with your ears.
Several searches for extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI) are still ongoing. Much of this work follows the same basic strategy, with researchers looking for any kind of extremely narrow frequency (single frequency) signal outside the solar system through various parts of the microwave radio spectrum.
According to the usual situation, this signal is an excellent opportunity to detect distant interstellar life. In the entire radio and infrared spectrum, it has the least natural background noise in the frequency band from 1000 MHz to 50,000 MHz. Any alien radio engineer will know this, and they may build interstellar transmitters accordingly. On our planet, the atmosphere limits the frequencies we receive to between 1,000 MHz and 12,000 MHz, but perhaps other civilizations will also have reason to choose low frequency range limits.
This kind of emission that we currently have many opportunities to detect is the "indicator signal" -- a well-designed signal. It seems to be saying to us as clearly and loudly as possible in an unknown voice: "We are here." ”
The searches currently under way may be too weak to hear any radio waves emanating from within other civilizations that seem to express some intent — its own broadcast and point-to-point communication — no matter how advanced that civilization may be.
Judging by the size of the Milky Way, the distant distances between planets, and the microwave spectrum, finding the signal beacons to help us design is a difficult task. The SETI program has grown considerably in recent years, but researchers are constantly looking for every little bit of the equation.
Over the years, SETI researchers have implemented a number of programs that are:
Phoenix Project
The Phoenix project utilizes a plan with specific goals to solve the puzzle of finding extraterrestrial signals. The project, carried out by the Hill Also Observatory in California, which conducts the search for extraterrestrial intelligent life, aims to conduct a serious search for a relatively small number of targets. Most of these targets are Sun-like stars that are less than 200 light-years from Earth. The Phoenix program uses a specially customized instrument and a truck trailer with a high-power computer, so researchers in the program have traveled all over the world with large radio telescopes to track their targets. Researchers can listen to more than 2 billion channels between 1.2 MHz and 3,000 MHz, each of which has an interval density of only 0.7 Hz, which is equivalent to the thin resolution of a razor blade. Any signal in such a narrow frequency will definitely be artificial. In contrast, the narrowest microwave frequency that can be produced anywhere in nature is only 300 hertz wide.
The Phoenix program was developed from NASA's high-definition microwave observations, which were canceled by the U.S. Congress in 1993. NASA has spent $58 million on this, and now the institute, which is looking for extraterrestrial intelligent life, has acquired the instruments to further leverage private investment for part of the program, including donations from the general public.
From February to June 1995, the Phoenix program used a 64-meter radio telescope at the Parker Observatory in Australia to observe 200 stars that are not seen in the northern hemisphere. The second step in the program began in the fall of 1996, when the system (now upgraded) was moved to the National Radio Observatory in West Virginia. Here, the researchers spend most of their energy on observing the cosmic targets they list with a 43-meter-diameter radio telescope. At that time, the hardware equipment used to make such observations had been transferred to Puerto Rico. The recently developed 305-metre-diameter Arecibo Radio Telescope has completed a more detailed search of selected targets, which began in September 1996. For the next 5 years, they will have a 12-hour party every 20 days every six months.
The Phoenix Project actually has a much higher number of planets that can emit radio waves than it lists. Many giant planets (and sometimes galaxies) are closer than selected targets within the beam width of a radio telescope. According to some scientists, the context of this search is the most likely part of the results. Relying on these measures, this background summary makes the Phoenix Project, the most powerful SETI program still in progress.
Giltatt, director of the Institute for The Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligent Life, wants to build a 100-meter-square radio telescope for use exclusively by the program's researchers in Hartcreco, California. It can also be used as a dedicated 1,000-meter telescope prototype, an advanced one that many radio astronomers have discussed one day to build.
Beta Program (BETA)
The beta mentioned here is not the second letter of the Greek alphabet, but the abbreviation of the English Billion-channl Extra-Terrestrial Assay, the 1 billion channel extraterrestrial life assay. The program employs a broad search strategy, hosted by Paul Horowitz of Harvard University and supported by Planetary Attendance and various other relevant groups. Instead of tracking individual targets, Horowitz and his graduate students systematically swept the entire sky from an oblique angle of 30° to 160°. The tool they used was an old 26-meter-diameter radio telescope.
Since October 1995, Horowitz's team has been scanning and monitoring frequencies of 1.72 MHz to 1400 MHz with a minimum resolution of 0.5 Hz. This frequency range is dubbed the "water hole" because it is surrounded by substances released from hydrogen and hydroxyl groups.
What we want is that extraterrestrial life can get our signals, and they may also choose this band with obvious signs.
Beta II Program (BETA II)
The Beta Program replaced the more limited Beta II Program, the One Million Channels plan to find extraterrestrial life. Beta II was established in 1985 by Horowitz and his research team. The hardware for the program was later copied by the Institute of Radio Astronomy in Argentina. The hardware was invested by the Planetary Society and used in the Southern Hemisphere. The search for extraterrestrial life has used a 30-meter-diameter antenna at the Radio Astronomy Institute near Alice in Buenos Aires since 1990 to repeatedly observe the sky at latitudes between -90° and -10°. It monitors 8 million hydrogen spectral lines approaching 21 cm at 1420 MHz and 2800 MHz, respectively, assuming a channel with a change frequency of 0.05 Hz and another microwave.
Serendip Project (SERENDIP)
That is, to look for extraterrestrial radio waves from developed intelligent life near Earth. One of the difficulties people looking for extraterrestrial intelligent life is having enough time on radio telescopes. The Serendipo plan avoided this problem. The program will look for radio waves emitted at any moment where radio telescopes for other purposes are aiming. Although this fractional arrangement does not allow the program's researchers to choose where to listen to the signal, it does not interfere with normal radio astronomy research. As a result, this research program has been able to continue. The program began in 1978 and was led by a research team at the University of California.
In May 1997, the Serendipo project replaced its processor at the Alishibo Observatory to find 168 million channels at a frequency of 1400 megahertz, each 0.6 Hz wide, around the hydrogen spectral line. In the extra time, the program's researchers repeatedly searched most of the sky at latitudes +38° to -3° for interesting signals.
The Serendi Spectrum Project of the South
According to an earlier copy, the 420,000-channel Serenti Spectrum Project began in March 1998 at the Parks Observatory in Australia. The program is hosted by the Australian Centre for the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligent Life, the Southern Horizons Programme for observations of extraterrestrial intelligent life within the hydrogen spectrum line, and two 4-million-channel Serendi Spectrum IV telescopes for the University of Sydney in Australia and the Institute of Radio Astronomy in Borenia, Italy.
In addition, amateurs can also participate in other fields of astronomy, and the search for extraterrestrial intelligent life projects can also benefit from the hard work of amateurs. In this way, high-power signal markers elsewhere in the galaxy can easily fall into the huge void of the main SETI. But a single home satellite dish and a narrowband signal analyzer can detect these signals. These small antennas have a wider beam and can cover a larger area of the sky for a long time. Therefore, the addition of amateurs can increase the coverage width of signals in the very deep parts of the universe. Examples of the hard work of the small-scale SETI include the Bambi program. The plan is to use a pair of 3.1 million channel radio telescopes to simultaneously observe two places 3,000 kilometers apart, California and Colorado, to screen out local interfering radio waves. Bobra and McFreymond are using their equipment to explore frequencies close to 4,000 megahertz, which is higher than other frequencies looking for work.
The Argus Project
Small groups in New Jersey looking for extraterrestrial intelligent life are working hard to match up with more amateurs. The purpose of the Argus project is to allow 5,000 amateur radio astronomers around the world to monitor the entire starry sky at selected frequencies. Members of the program claim 59 observatories, occupying a position of conclusive evidence in the search for extraterrestrial intelligent life. In most cases, these members only pay the workers of these observatories a few hundred to a few thousand dollars each. The Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligent Life Group does not provide a "caretaker" ready to use, however, it all provides a technical guide and facilitates access to parts and software. The search for extraterrestrial intelligent life recently acquired an 18-meter radio telescope in Australia that has long since ceased to be used.
Look for extraterrestrial intelligent life programs at home
One way to make this activity possible for anyone is to make observations at home. By screening a large number of narrow-band signals on the radio data to a great extent, enormous computing power is exerted. Due to limited funding, this is one of the most critical links in the research effort. High-power schemes like the Serendi Spectrum program certainly limit themselves to finding signals with predetermined characteristics. David, a computer engineer, performs at the University of California, Berkeley. Danwo Termer, a member of the program, knows that this would be perfect for letting thousands of volunteers decentralize computing on huge computers at home.
At present, everything is in place for this plan. Astronomy enthusiasts can download 250 kilobytes of data files from the Serendi spectrum receiver under this deliberate plan. When the study was conducted—especially after a week or two—their computers fed feedback and fed it into other results, and then took some data for analysis.
These efforts will eventually increase the sensitivity of the Serenti spectrum project by about 10 times, and increase the scope of the searched universe billions of times. The search for extraterrestrial intelligent life at home expands the search from a 0.6 Hz band to 0.1 Hz to 1500 Hz, and also allows it to look for pulsed, sliding, and not very complex signals. This is a signal that is not yet visible. This may illustrate that the "leaked information" from communications within other civilizations is not just a signal sent exclusively to us. The public reaction to the software centers of the computer companies concerned was strong. 120,000 people have said they are involved in the family's quest for extraterrestrial intelligent life. The program has already begun.
Coseti Program (COSETI)
This search for extraterrestrial intelligent life is not limited to microwave radios. Stuart Kingsley's COSRTI (Columbia Optical Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligent Life Program) at the Ohio Observatory in the United States aims to use a 25-centimeter-wide telescope and some conventional instruments to purposefully search for planets emitting narrow-frequency laser signals and pulsed signals of visible wavelengths.
This method is attracting the attention of many people. According to the analysis of Kingsley, Paul Horowitz and other scientists, simple nano laser wave signals will become an attractive tool for interstellar communication. A laser that is no more powerful than what engineers have designed on their drawing boards could send radio signals directly to about 1 million planets a day, which can be detected by today's optical telescopes at a distance of 1,000 light-years. If extraterrestrial life had used a slightly larger laser, these signals could have been detected by astronomical telescopes with two inexpensive high-speed photomultipliers. Such a simple pulse signal becomes so clear that it seems to be artificial that we look at a single wide channel, spanning most of the visible or infrared spectrum. Compared with the method of using radio telescopes to find extraterrestrial intelligent life, this seems very tempting. In these spectra, we can screen for billions of narrow channels that emit a continuous signal. Would extraterrestrial intelligent life make the same judgment? Several specialized optical probes for extraterrestrial intelligent life have begun to be implemented. Although today's plans to search for extraterrestrial intelligent life demonstrate an expanding scope and strategy for the search, they are still being tried.