A simultaneous dual-site technosignature search using international LOFAR stations
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
Funding
History
Publication
The Astronomical Journal, 2023, 166 (5)Publisher
IOP PublishingOther Funding information
Breakthrough Listen is managed by the Breakthrough Initiatives, sponsored by the Breakthrough Prize Foundation. D.J.McK. and A.B. are supported by Government of Ireland Studentships from the Irish Research Council (IRC). I-LOFAR has received funding from Science Foundation Ireland (SFI), the Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science (DFHERIS) of the Government of Ireland. We acknowledge support from Onsala Space Observatory for the provisioning of its facilities and observational support. The Onsala Space Observatory national research infrastructure is funded through Swedish Research Council grant No. 2017-00648. grant No. 2017-00648Sustainable development goals
- (4) Quality Education
External identifier
Department or School
- Physics