The Local Galactic Transient Survey Applied to an Optical Search for Directed Intelligence
We discuss our transient search for directed energy systems in local galaxies, with calculations indicating the ability of modest searches to detect optical Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence sources in the closest galaxies. Our analysis follows P. Lubin, where a messenger civilization follows...
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| Language: | English |
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IOP Publishing
2025-01-01
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| Series: | The Astrophysical Journal |
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| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/adc43d |
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| author | Alex Thomas Natalie LeBaron Luca Angeleri Phillip Morgan Varun Iyer Prerana Kottapalli Enda Mao Samuel Whitebook Jasper Webb Dharv Patel Rachel Darlinger Kyle Lam Kelvin Yip Michael McDonald Robby Odum Cole Slenkovich Yael Brynjegard-Bialik Nicole Efstathiu Joshua Perkins Ryan Kuo Audrey O’Malley Alec Wang Ben Fogiel Sam Salters Marlon Munoz Natalie Kim Lee Fowler Ruiyang Wang Philip Lubin |
| author_facet | Alex Thomas Natalie LeBaron Luca Angeleri Phillip Morgan Varun Iyer Prerana Kottapalli Enda Mao Samuel Whitebook Jasper Webb Dharv Patel Rachel Darlinger Kyle Lam Kelvin Yip Michael McDonald Robby Odum Cole Slenkovich Yael Brynjegard-Bialik Nicole Efstathiu Joshua Perkins Ryan Kuo Audrey O’Malley Alec Wang Ben Fogiel Sam Salters Marlon Munoz Natalie Kim Lee Fowler Ruiyang Wang Philip Lubin |
| author_sort | Alex Thomas |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | We discuss our transient search for directed energy systems in local galaxies, with calculations indicating the ability of modest searches to detect optical Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence sources in the closest galaxies. Our analysis follows P. Lubin, where a messenger civilization follows a beacon strategy we call “intelligent targeting.” We plot the required laser time to achieve a signal-to-noise ratio of 10 and find the time for a blind transmission to target all stars in the Milky Way to be achievable for local galactic civilizations. As high cadence and sky coverage is the pathway to enable such a detection, we operate the Local Galactic Transient Survey (LGTS) targeting M31 (the Andromeda galaxy), the Large Magellanic Cloud, and the Small Magellanic Cloud via Las Cumbres Observatory’s network of 0.4 m telescopes. We explore the ability of modest searches like the LGTS to detect directed pulses in optical and near-infrared wavelengths from extraterrestrial intelligence at these distances, and conclude that a civilization utilizing less powerful laser technology than we can construct in this century is readily detectable with the LGTS’s observational capabilities. Data processing of 30,000 LGTS images spanning 5 yr is in progress with the TRansient Image Processing Pipeline. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-c7771d4295344acabcd7b587641b6481 |
| institution | OA Journals |
| issn | 1538-4357 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-01-01 |
| publisher | IOP Publishing |
| record_format | Article |
| series | The Astrophysical Journal |
| spelling | doaj-art-c7771d4295344acabcd7b587641b64812025-08-20T01:50:42ZengIOP PublishingThe Astrophysical Journal1538-43572025-01-0198516010.3847/1538-4357/adc43dThe Local Galactic Transient Survey Applied to an Optical Search for Directed IntelligenceAlex Thomas0https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9528-8147Natalie LeBaron1https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2249-0595Luca Angeleri2Phillip Morgan3Varun Iyer4Prerana Kottapalli5https://orcid.org/0009-0008-0190-3179Enda Mao6Samuel Whitebook7https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6836-181XJasper Webb8Dharv Patel9Rachel Darlinger10Kyle Lam11Kelvin Yip12Michael McDonald13Robby Odum14Cole Slenkovich15Yael Brynjegard-Bialik16Nicole Efstathiu17Joshua Perkins18Ryan Kuo19Audrey O’Malley20Alec Wang21Ben Fogiel22Sam Salters23Marlon Munoz24Natalie Kim25Lee Fowler26Ruiyang Wang27Philip Lubin28University of California Santa Barbara , Santa Barbara, CA 93106, USA ; agthomas@ucsb.eduUniversity of California Santa Barbara , Santa Barbara, CA 93106, USA ; agthomas@ucsb.eduUniversity of California Santa Barbara , Santa Barbara, CA 93106, USA ; agthomas@ucsb.eduUniversity of Colorado Boulder , Boulder, CO 80309, USAUniversity of California Santa Barbara , Santa Barbara, CA 93106, USA ; agthomas@ucsb.eduUniversity of California Santa Barbara , Santa Barbara, CA 93106, USA ; agthomas@ucsb.eduUniversity of California Santa Barbara , Santa Barbara, CA 93106, USA ; agthomas@ucsb.eduUniversity of California Santa Barbara , Santa Barbara, CA 93106, USA ; agthomas@ucsb.eduUniversity of California Santa Barbara , Santa Barbara, CA 93106, USA ; agthomas@ucsb.eduUniversity of California Santa Barbara , Santa Barbara, CA 93106, USA ; agthomas@ucsb.eduUniversity of California Santa Barbara , Santa Barbara, CA 93106, USA ; agthomas@ucsb.eduUniversity of California Santa Barbara , Santa Barbara, CA 93106, USA ; agthomas@ucsb.eduUniversity of California Santa Barbara , Santa Barbara, CA 93106, USA ; agthomas@ucsb.eduUniversity of California Santa Barbara , Santa Barbara, CA 93106, USA ; agthomas@ucsb.eduUniversity of California Santa Barbara , Santa Barbara, CA 93106, USA ; agthomas@ucsb.eduUniversity of California Santa Barbara , Santa Barbara, CA 93106, USA ; agthomas@ucsb.eduUniversity of California Santa Barbara , Santa Barbara, CA 93106, USA ; agthomas@ucsb.eduUniversity of California Santa Barbara , Santa Barbara, CA 93106, USA ; agthomas@ucsb.eduUniversity of California Santa Barbara , Santa Barbara, CA 93106, USA ; agthomas@ucsb.eduUniversity of California Santa Barbara , Santa Barbara, CA 93106, USA ; agthomas@ucsb.eduUniversity of California Santa Barbara , Santa Barbara, CA 93106, USA ; agthomas@ucsb.eduUniversity of California Santa Barbara , Santa Barbara, CA 93106, USA ; agthomas@ucsb.eduUniversity of California Santa Barbara , Santa Barbara, CA 93106, USA ; agthomas@ucsb.eduUniversity of California Santa Barbara , Santa Barbara, CA 93106, USA ; agthomas@ucsb.eduUniversity of California Santa Barbara , Santa Barbara, CA 93106, USA ; agthomas@ucsb.eduUniversity of California Santa Barbara , Santa Barbara, CA 93106, USA ; agthomas@ucsb.eduUniversity of California Santa Barbara , Santa Barbara, CA 93106, USA ; agthomas@ucsb.eduUniversity of California Santa Barbara , Santa Barbara, CA 93106, USA ; agthomas@ucsb.eduUniversity of California Santa Barbara , Santa Barbara, CA 93106, USA ; agthomas@ucsb.eduWe discuss our transient search for directed energy systems in local galaxies, with calculations indicating the ability of modest searches to detect optical Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence sources in the closest galaxies. Our analysis follows P. Lubin, where a messenger civilization follows a beacon strategy we call “intelligent targeting.” We plot the required laser time to achieve a signal-to-noise ratio of 10 and find the time for a blind transmission to target all stars in the Milky Way to be achievable for local galactic civilizations. As high cadence and sky coverage is the pathway to enable such a detection, we operate the Local Galactic Transient Survey (LGTS) targeting M31 (the Andromeda galaxy), the Large Magellanic Cloud, and the Small Magellanic Cloud via Las Cumbres Observatory’s network of 0.4 m telescopes. We explore the ability of modest searches like the LGTS to detect directed pulses in optical and near-infrared wavelengths from extraterrestrial intelligence at these distances, and conclude that a civilization utilizing less powerful laser technology than we can construct in this century is readily detectable with the LGTS’s observational capabilities. Data processing of 30,000 LGTS images spanning 5 yr is in progress with the TRansient Image Processing Pipeline.https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/adc43dSearch for extraterrestrial intelligence |
| spellingShingle | Alex Thomas Natalie LeBaron Luca Angeleri Phillip Morgan Varun Iyer Prerana Kottapalli Enda Mao Samuel Whitebook Jasper Webb Dharv Patel Rachel Darlinger Kyle Lam Kelvin Yip Michael McDonald Robby Odum Cole Slenkovich Yael Brynjegard-Bialik Nicole Efstathiu Joshua Perkins Ryan Kuo Audrey O’Malley Alec Wang Ben Fogiel Sam Salters Marlon Munoz Natalie Kim Lee Fowler Ruiyang Wang Philip Lubin The Local Galactic Transient Survey Applied to an Optical Search for Directed Intelligence The Astrophysical Journal Search for extraterrestrial intelligence |
| title | The Local Galactic Transient Survey Applied to an Optical Search for Directed Intelligence |
| title_full | The Local Galactic Transient Survey Applied to an Optical Search for Directed Intelligence |
| title_fullStr | The Local Galactic Transient Survey Applied to an Optical Search for Directed Intelligence |
| title_full_unstemmed | The Local Galactic Transient Survey Applied to an Optical Search for Directed Intelligence |
| title_short | The Local Galactic Transient Survey Applied to an Optical Search for Directed Intelligence |
| title_sort | local galactic transient survey applied to an optical search for directed intelligence |
| topic | Search for extraterrestrial intelligence |
| url | https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/adc43d |
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