SETI, astronomy, bioastronomy, extraterrestrials, extraterrestrial, aliens, alien, UFO, E.T., ET, Contact, SETI@Home, astrobiology, exobiology, education, planets, space
Astrobiology is the study of the origin, evolution, distribution, and
destiny of life in the universe. It uses many scientific disciplines and
space technologies to address these essential issues. While these questions
are as old as civilization, advances in science and space technology make
it possible for us to find answers to them. More planets have been discovered
outside our solar system than exist in it. Life has been found to exist
under conditions previously thought impossible. The discovery of life on
Mars or Europa would add priority to the search for Earth-like planets orbiting
other stars in our galaxy, and to the search for extraterrestrial intelligence.
There are three paths along which the search
for other life in the universe is being pursued:
1. detection
of planets in the "livable zone" around
distant stars (including such
studies as spectrometric analyses for chemicals like carbon dioxide that
are thought to be possible markers for life or livable conditions)
2. inference of life by duplication of the remote
conditions on earth (including studies
in the laboratory as well as around deep ocean vents and beneath glaciers,
and computer simulations of chemistries, life forms, and even societies)
3. detection of artificial signals that might be generated by intelligent life (including optical and radio searches for "beacons"
that might be the most easily detected manifestation of distant life).
For over 35 years the search for extraterrestrial intelligence
(SETI) has concentrated on the microwave approach to the search for artificial
signals. The intelligent origin of microwave signals is readily established
by spectroscopy through the sharply defined bandwidth in which signals will
likely occur, the Doppler shift, the fact that the signals will likely be
highly polarized, and the fact that they will likely exhibit a well-defined
and "unnatural" modulation. The ASRG research project uses a hydrogen-line
radiotelescope constructed for Project
Argus (Project Argus Station EM77to), a sky survey
coordinated by the SETI League, and a near-infrared optical telescope with a one-meter
aperture to search for signals of intelligent origin. In a typical day ASRG
instruments can collect approximately 4.3 terabytes of data, making data
storage and analysis our biggest current challenge. Members of the group
are currently developing parallel computing algorithms for data mining to
enable use of distributed computing and supercomputers in the national technology
grid in "data mining" of telescope output.
This web site is divided into five areas:
Near-Infrared SETI
More information about the near-infrared radiotelescope
can be found here.
Microwave SETI
More information about the microwave radiotelescope
can be found here.
Open Source Software Projects
for SETI
Programs under development by the user community for data analysis, visualization,
and storage are here.
Data File Servers and Discussion
Groups
The most recent data files, discussion groups and reports by data analysts,
and directions for downloading data and posting your own results are here.
Archives and FAQ
Answers to frequently asked questions and web pages that explain things
that we might not be actively working on are here.aterrestrials,
extraterrestrial, aliens, alien, UFO, E.T., ET, Contact, SETI@Home, astrobiology,
exobiology, education, planets, space
If you are ready to participate in the search for signals from intelligent extra-terrestrial life, you can contact us using this link. New students are always welcome. To encourage participation in the SETI effort, data from the radiotelescope can be downloaded and analyzed on your computers using different techniques. It might well be easier for students than for a computer program to detect the totally unexpected. (Note that we now scan all data files for weak monochromatic signals automatically before posting. Any such signals that appear in data files are there because they are in our known interferences log.) Click here for more information on becoming involved with this project.
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