The SETI Observer

March 21, 2002

	TeamSETI Member Visits Arecibo
	SETI Scientist Seth Shostak Reflects on Arecibo
	All SETI, All the Time - Allen Telescope Array
	New Search System-Bigger, Stronger, Faster
	The SETI Challenge:Did you answer correctly?
Artist rendering of a single 6-meter dish from the Allen Telescope Array (scheduled for completion in 2005)

Dear SETI Enthusiast,

Here at the SETI Institute, we're buzzing with excitement over the current observing session at the Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico. Each time our Phoenix team tunes that giant ear to a candidate star, a tantalizing possibility exists for humanity's first contact with extraterrestrial intelligence.

Like you, members of our scientific team are inspired by the possibility that the pivotal discovery will be made tomorrow. But we also know that the search requires a dedicated, long-term, systematic effort. Like looking for a needle in a haystack, the search is hugely challenging. Nonetheless, we remain confident that new technologies and leading edge research are bringing us closer to a breakthrough.

The goal of today's newsletter is to give you an insider's look at science in action. With your help, we will keep the search alive and expand its capabilities in the near future.

Very best regards,

Thomas Pierson
CEO, SETI Institute

TEAMSETI MEMBER VISITS ARECIBO

"Fantastic!" TeamSETI member and Arecibo contest winner, Dave Sturman found himself using this one-word description throughout his three-day trip. The highlight for Dave? The evening observing sessions with SETI Institute astronomers Peter Backus and Jill Tarter. Visit Members Place to see a few of Dave's snapshots. TeamSETI members can read all about Dave and his Arecibo trip in the summer newsletter. Find out how to become a TeamSETI member.

SETI SCIENTIST SETH SHOSTAK REFLECTS ON ARECIBO

For the last three weeks, the Project Phoenix crew has been using the imposing Arecibo radio telescope during its semiannual search for extraterrestrial signals. How did the search go?

ALL SETI, ALL THE TIME - ALLEN TELESCOPE ARRAY

We are developing our own dedicated SETI telescope, the Allen Telescope Array, constructed as an array of 350 antennae, each 6m in diameter.

The result is a highly sensitive instrument, with a collecting area bigger than a 100-meter telescope, optimized to cover three times the frequency and four times as many channels as the current Project Phoenix. For the first time, the SETI Institute will be able to examine a truly significant sample of the "cosmic haystack" because the array can examine several stars simultaneously, rather than one star at a time with the current Arecibo telescope.

Thanks to the generosity of Paul Allen (co-founder of Microsoft) and Nathan Myhrvold (former Chief Technology Officer for Microsoft) who have pledged to support the project and already provided half of the $26 million necessary, the telescope is close to becoming a reality. Learn more

NEW SEARCH SYSTEM-BIGGER, STRONGER, FASTER

Project Phoenix currently tunes in to 57 million channels when scanning a star system for signals. That's a lot of bandwidth, and we are listening with aging equipment. The ten-year-old search system was state of the art when new but is incredibly slow by today's standards. This fall we begin field-testing the New Search System (NSS) prototype; a big step forward for the Institute as we complete Project Phoenix and prepare for the Allen Telescope Array to come on-line in 2005. The NSS is, in fact, a critical component of the Allen Telescope Array, which needs this new system to process the signals it collects. Without the NSS, our new and improved telescope would receive but not detect ET's signal.

Discovery is in the offing. Find out how you can help us make the New Search System a reality.

THE SETI CHALLENGE: DID YOU ANSWER CORRECTLY?

In the last SETI e-newsletter we asked: Why was tropical Arecibo chosen as the location for the world's largest telescope?

Scientists wanted to drink pina coladas while surveying the sky.
Arecibo is located exactly halfway around the world from the world's second largest telescope so that a full-view of space is always in sight from the two locations.
The closer to the equator, the more sky a telescope can see.
The higher moisture levels common to tropical climates amplify radio signals.

SETI scientist Peter Backus chose A. "It's 8 AM and I could use a pina colada (for the Vitamin C of course)," he explained.

Nonetheless, the answer is C. You can simply see more sky when you are closer to the equator. Want to check it out yourself? Grab a globe and see how many more square miles of real estate lie between 0 and 20 degrees latitude than between 70 to 90 degrees. The same is true for the stars that pass overhead. If you look at a patch of sky over your head at the North Pole, far fewer stars will appear in the course of the night than if you were watching the night sky above you at the equator.

And of course, there was a natural bowl-shaped depression in the limestone hills that made Arecibo a perfect site for the world's largest telescope.

Study up for the next SETI quiz in next month's SETI Observer.

Email:newsletter@seti.org