Speaker
Description
MeerKAT is an array composed of 64 13.5-m dishes and represents the main precursor of the SKA-mid radio telescope to which will be incorporated to form the final 197 antennas array envisaged for SKA-Mid. MeerKAT is fully involved in the SETI (Search for ExtraTerrestrial Intelligence) project, specifically it is part of the large Breakthrough Listen telescopes network, which also includes the Sardinia Radio Telescope. So far, SETI searches have been mostly carried out at low/medium frequencies, current SETI trend is to widen the search at higher spectral frequency windows and the available instrumentation at the MeerKAT facility does not allow us to go beyond the S-Band (1.75 - 3.5 GHz). In addition, searches are carried out in commensal/piggyback mode only, i.e. no specific time is reserved for SETI studies to cover sky regions that might supposedly host life. The band 5 project, with which receivers operating in the 8.3 - 15.4 GHz band will be soon installed at MeerKAT, will overcome this limitation. In the context of this enhancement and the needed time to commission both technically (digitizers, receivers, compressors, software etc) and scientifically the whole instrument, SETI targeted time will also be allocated to conduct techno-signatures studies at nearby stars with exoplanetary systems that could potentially be interesting to host (also) intelligence life.
This talk will present the scientific motivations for SETI searches in Band 5B with MeerKAT. This frequency range allows deep surveys of the Galactic Center at largely unexplored frequencies, and targeted observations of M-dwarf stars, where spectral broadening of narrowband signals is less severe than at lower frequencies. I will also outline the collaboration between INAF and the Breakthrough Listen team to upgrade the current SETI hardware–software infrastructure at MeerKAT, enabling wide-band, real-time techno signature searches. The new SETI instrument will be highly flexible and fully compatible with the SKA-mid array.
| Topics | Technology & IT |
|---|
