A Simultaneous Dual-site Technosignature Search Using International LOFAR Stations
Journal article, 2023
The Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence aims to find evidence of technosignatures, which can point toward the possible existence of technologically advanced extraterrestrial life. Radio signals similar to those engineered on Earth may be transmitted by other civilizations, motivating technosignature searches across the entire radio spectrum. In this endeavor, the low-frequency radio band has remained largely unexplored; with prior radio searches primarily above 1 GHz. In this survey at 110-190 MHz, observations of 1,631,198 targets from TESS and Gaia are reported. Observations took place simultaneously with two international stations (noninterferometric) of the Low Frequency Array in Ireland and Sweden. We can reject the presence of any Doppler drifting narrowband transmissions in the barycentric frame of reference, with equivalent isotropic radiated power of 1017 W, for 0.4 million (or 1.3 million) stellar systems at 110 (or 190) MHz. This work demonstrates the effectiveness of using multisite simultaneous observations for rejecting anthropogenic signals in the search for technosignatures.
Author
Owen A. Johnson
University College Dublin
University of California
Trinity College Dublin
Vishal Gajjar
SETI Institute
University of California
E. F. Keane
National University of Ireland
Trinity College Dublin
David J. McKenna
Trinity College Dublin
Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies
Charles Giese
Max Planck Society
Trinity College Dublin
Ben McKeon
National University of Ireland
University of Limerick
Tobia Carozzi
Chalmers, Space, Earth and Environment, Onsala Space Observatory
Cloe Alcaria
Paul Sabatier University
Trinity College Dublin
Aoife Brennan
European Southern Observatory Santiago
National University of Ireland
Trinity College Dublin
Bryan Brzycki
University of California
S. Croft
SETI Institute
University of California
Jamie Drew
National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)
Richard Elkins
University of California
P. T. Gallagher
Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies
Ruth Kelly
University College London (UCL)
Matt Lebofsky
University of California
D. MacMahon
University of California
Joseph McCauley
Trinity College Dublin
Imke de Pater
University of California
Shauna Rose Raeside
Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies
Dublin City University
Trinity College Dublin
A. Siemion
SETI Institute
University of California
S. Pete Worden
National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)
Published in
Astronomical Journal
0004-6256 (ISSN) 1538-3881 (eISSN)
Vol. 166 Issue 5 art. no 193Research Project(s)
Onsala space observatory infrastructure
Swedish Research Council (VR) (2017-00648), 2018-01-01 -- 2021-12-31.
Categorizing
Subject Categories (SSIF 2011)
Telecommunications
Astronomy, Astrophysics and Cosmology
Identifiers
DOI
10.3847/1538-3881/acf9f5