Unlocking the Universe: Advancements in the Search for Intelligent Life at Lower Frequencies

2023-10-29 15:09:21
For 60 years, scientists have been searching for so-called technical fingerprints that might indicate the presence of intelligent life outside Earth in our vast universe. These technical fingerprints were identified in extraterrestrial radio signals. But those efforts relied on using single observatories to capture these signals, which limited the ability to capture them, firstly because of the interference that might be caused by radio signals active on the Earth’s surface, and secondly because previous efforts were working to capture signals with higher frequencies. About one gigahertz, because the single-dish telescopes used operated in the range of those frequencies. Overcoming previous shortcomings, recently a new press release published on the “Phys.org” website announced a collaborative research project supervised by Trinity College Dublin, in which 3 telescopes participate, namely the Irish Lovar telescope, the Breakthrough Listen telescope in Oxford, and the Swedish Onsala Space Observatory. It works to overcome those issues that technically limit the search for intelligent life outside Earth. The international team working at these institutions, led by Professor Ivan Kane, Associate Professor of Radio Astronomy at Trinity School of Physics and Head of the Irish Lovar Telescope, has developed a multi-site technique involving multiple telescopes, allowing them to search in a frequency range much lower than that of Previously researched, the new project is investigating the frequency range from 110 to 190 MHz. The new project is looking at the frequency range from 110 to 190 MHz (iLOFAR), and as the press release states, using multiple sites has a major benefit, which is that a “false positive” radio signal is less likely to be received; Such signals arise due to interference between many human sources on Earth. The team has just published details of its method and ongoing research in The Astronomical Journal on October 24. The team has already scanned 1.6 million star systems identified as targets of interest by the Gaia and TESS space missions, operated by the European Space Agency and NASA, respectively. So far, these searches have not yielded any results. Further development if Although the search efforts have not yet yielded results, they will not stop, as the researchers stated in the press release that the Lovar will soon undergo a series of phased upgrades across all stations throughout Europe in the array. The statement added that this will allow searches for intelligent life beyond Earth to be conducted In the range of radio signal frequencies that range between 15-240 MHz. Will all these efforts, and this range of examination of radio signal frequencies, result in arriving at something truly positive indicating the existence of intelligent life outside Earth? This is what the years and perhaps papers will reveal. Future research in this field.
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