Scientists search for extraterrestrial signals by setting up various laser detection devices in California and Hawaii to try to make communication possible.

Well, it’s one of the possible options, so the SETI project is expanding to look for extraterrestrial signals in a rather novel way: installing several laser detection devices in California and Hawaii to try to make communication possible. These devices will work in conjunction with similar ones installed in California, at the Robert Ferguson Observatory in Sonoma. Each of the sets is equipped with two identical cameras, rotated 90 degrees relative to each other along the viewing axis. A splitter splits the incoming light into spectra, which the camera records at a fast rate. The devices use wide-angle lenses with which it is possible to obtain images of approximately 75 degrees.

Corroborating the existence of extraterrestrial life has been the subject of study for a long time, in recent months, and after the observation of mysterious structures on the Moon and theories that talk about aliens could have detected the Earth, it has caused interest in life outside our planet increases considerably.

In different studies carried out it is pointed out that it is possible that extraterrestrial intelligences are using powerful lasers to capture our attention, however, we do not have the appropriate equipment to be able to perceive this.

SETI, the organization that looks for signs of extraterrestrial life, is installing several laser detection devices in California and Hawaii to try to make communication possible.

Two of these new devices have been placed on top of Haleakalā, also known as the East Maui volcano, according to a press release from the University of Hawaii. These devices will work in conjunction with similar ones installed in California, at the Robert Ferguson Observatory in Sonoma. The scanners could explore more areas of the Pacific sky in order to detect laser pulses from extraterrestrial intelligence. These two new devices may be the key to unlocking communications beyond Earth.

During their transfer, the instruments suffered some damage, which delayed their start-up, which was scheduled for August 2021, repairs were carried out and they were put into operation in October. For this year, LaserSETI will replace two of the four cameras at Haleakalā to bring the system to full functionality.

LaserSETI devices in Maui face east, those pre-installed in California face west, allowing simultaneous coverage from a distance. The importance of doing it this way is that it will be possible to triangulate sources that come from outside the solar system and thus rule out signals that may originate from planes or satellites.

“The possibility that life exists elsewhere is exciting to the public, especially with reports of biologically interesting molecules in the atmosphere of Venus, NASA’s selection of two Venus missions, the Mars Perseverance rover mission and the upcoming Europa Clipper mission to explore Jupiter’s moon,” Professor Karen Meech put it this way.

“UH has long been involved in astrobiology to explore the possibility of life elsewhere, both through research related to the formation of habitable worlds, the discovery of exoplanets, and the development of innovative new mirror and mirror technology. telescopes to detect planets. It’s exciting to add a new direction to this research by looking for technology firms.”

Traditional SETI looks to detect extraterrestrial radio transmissions, on the other hand, optical SETI looks for artificially created light signals. According to the statement issued by the SETI Institute, they point to “a fundamental advantage over radio because, in principle, they can transmit many more bits per second, typically half a million times more.” There is a possibility that aliens use lasers for their communications since with these they could reach interstellar distances.

Previous projects to detect extraterrestrial lasers were based on photomultiplier tubes that basically act as one-pixel cameras, therefore only a very small amount of space has been covered, optical SETI has so far not detected anything from outside the system solar.

Each of the devices is equipped with two identical cameras, rotated 90 degrees relative to each other along the viewing axis. A splitter splits the incoming light into spectra, which the camera records at a fast rate. The devices use wide-angle lenses with which it is possible to obtain images of approximately 75 degrees, with this only a few are necessary to cover a large area. Eliot Gillum, Principal Investigator of LaserSETI, said that it is “a great step forward in the search for technosignatures is the first project in optics or radio astronomy designed to cover the entire sky.”

The innovation of these teams is the wide angle, thanks to this technology they have the ability to cover the entire night sky without requiring the installation of multiple devices, thus reducing costs.

Source: https://www.hawaii.edu/news/2021/12/22/alien-detecting-instrument-on-haleakala/