Search for temporal coherence in the sky

Ribak, Erez N.

doi:10.1117/12.677414

Cited by 2 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 27 publications

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“…The search for extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI) has been conducted mainly in the radio band (Wilson, 2001;Tarter, 2001;Shostak et al, 2011), with peripheral attention to exotic signals in the optical (Howard et al, 2007;Horowitz et al, 2001;Ribak, 2006;Dyson, 2003;Forgan and Elvis, 2011) and thermal infrared (Dyson, 1960). Possible "beacon" signals broadcasted intentionally by another civilization to announce its presence as well as the "leakage" of radiation, produced for communication or other purposes (e.g., radar), have been the usual targets of radio SETI observations.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Detection Technique for Artificially Illuminated Objects in the Outer Solar System and Beyond

Loeb

Turner

2012

Astrobiology

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Existing and planned optical telescopes and surveys can detect artificially illuminated objects, comparable in total brightness to a major terrestrial city, at the outskirts of the Solar System. Orbital parameters of Kuiper belt objects (KBOs) are routinely measured to exquisite precisions of < 10 -3 . Here, we propose to measure the variation of the observed flux F from such objects as a function of their changing orbital distances D. Sunlightilluminated objects will show a logarithmic slope a h (d log F/d log D) = -4, whereas artificially illuminated objects should exhibit a = -2. The proposed Large Synoptic Survey Telescope (LSST) and other planned surveys will provide superb data and allow measurement of a for thousands of KBOs. If objects with a = -2 are found, follow-up observations could measure their spectra to determine whether they are illuminated by artificial lighting. The search can be extended beyond the Solar System with future generations of telescopes on the ground and in space that would have the capacity to detect phase modulation due to very strong artificial illumination on the nightside of planets as they orbit their parent stars.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Detection Technique for Artificially Illuminated Objects in the Outer Solar System and Beyond

Loeb

Turner

2012

Astrobiology

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Enhanced Interferometric Identification of Spectra in Habitable Extrasolar Planets

Schwartz

Lipson

Ribak

2012

The Astronomical Journal

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An Earth-like extrasolar planet emits light that is many orders of magnitude fainter than that of the parent star. We propose a method of identifying bio-signature spectral lines in light of known extrasolar planets based on Fourier spectroscopy in the infrared, using an off-center part of a Fourier interferogram only. This results in superior sensitivity to narrower molecular-type spectral bands, which are expected in the planet spectrum but are absent in the parent star. We support this idea by numerical simulations that include photon and thermal noise, and show it to be feasible at a luminosity ratio of 10-6 for a Sun-like parent star in the infrared. We also carried out a laboratory experiment to illustrate the method. The results suggest that this method should be applicable to real planet searches.

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Search for temporal coherence in the sky

Cited by 2 publications

References 27 publications

Detection Technique for Artificially Illuminated Objects in the Outer Solar System and Beyond

Detection Technique for Artificially Illuminated Objects in the Outer Solar System and Beyond

Enhanced Interferometric Identification of Spectra in Habitable Extrasolar Planets

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