Big upgrade for MeerKAT telescope boosts search for intelligent alien life
South Africa’s MeerKAT radio telescope in the Karoo has started using a powerful new instrument that significantly enhances its ability to search for signs of extraterrestrial life.
The upgrade was announced in a conference on Thursday organised by the South African Radio Astronomy Observatory (Sarao).
The instrument will be used by astronomers and engineers on the “Breakthrough Listen” team, a scientific programme searching for evidence of technological life in the universe.
Its goal is to survey one million nearby stars, the entire galactic plane and 100 nearby galaxies using a range of radio and optical bands.
“The new search for technosignatures — indicators of technology developed by extraterrestrial intelligence — expands the number of targets searched by a factor of 1,000,” Sarao explained.
Breakthrough Listen scientists have spent the last three years developing and installing the most powerful digital instrumentation ever deployed in the search for technosignatures.
They have also integrated the equipment with the MeerKAT control and monitoring systems in cooperation with Sarao engineers.
“The new hardware complements Listen’s ongoing searches using the Green Bank Telescope in the USA, the Parkes Telescope in Australia, and other telescopes around the world,” Sarao said.
Wider field of view makes “listening” easier
Breakthrough Listen principal investigator Dr Andrew Siemion explained that MeerKAT’s 64 dishes had a large field of view that typically contains many stars that are interesting technosignature targets.
“Our new supercomputer enables us to combine signals from the 64 dishes to get high-resolution scans of these targets with excellent sensitivity, all without impacting the research of other astronomers who are using the array,” said Siemion.
By operating in a “commensal” mode that does not require moving the dishes for most of the time, MeerKAT is one of the most capable and sensitive radio telescopes and is available almost 24 hours a day, every day of the week.
In addition, Sarao said its ability to scan 64 targets simultaneously within the main field of view also improved the initiative’s ability to reject interfering signals from human technology, such as Earth-orbiting satellites, which have radically increased in the past few years.
MeerKAT radio telescope array in the Karoo, Northern Cape
Sarao said the Listen team had to develop sophisticated targeting and scheduling software to ensure the survey goals could be met in the desired timeframe.
That includes an automated data processing pipeline that scans through the data in near-real-time to look for interesting signals.
Breakthrough Listen’s project scientist for MeerKAT, Cherry Ng, said MeerKAT provide the ability to detect a transmitter akin to Earth’s brightest radio beacons out to a distance of 250 light years in its routine observing mode.
Breakthrough Initiatives executive director Dr S. Pete Worden said one of the first targets would be Earth’s nearest star, Proxima Centauri, which appears to host two small rocky planets in the star’s habitable zone.
“Routine observations with the Listen backend on MeerKAT are now underway, and the team looks forward to sharing the first science results in the coming months.”
Breakthrough Listen is also working with Sarao to develop research opportunities for astronomers and data processing experts in Africa on the programme.
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