Conducting High Frequency Radio SETI using ALMA

Fuente: arXiv
Enregistré dans:
Détails bibliographiques
Auteurs principaux: Mason, Louisa A, Garrett, Michael A, Wandia, Kelvin, Siemion, Andrew P V
Format: Preprint
Publié: 2024
Sujets:
Accès en ligne:
Tags: Ajouter un tag
Pas de tags, Soyez le premier à ajouter un tag!
_version_ 1866929608930099200
author Mason, Louisa A
Garrett, Michael A
Wandia, Kelvin
Siemion, Andrew P V
author_facet Mason, Louisa A
Garrett, Michael A
Wandia, Kelvin
Siemion, Andrew P V
contents The Atacama Millimeter/Submillimeter Array (ALMA) remains unparalleled in sensitivity at radio frequencies above 35 GHz. In this paper, we explore ALMA's potential for narrowband technosignature detection, considering factors such as the interferometer's undistorted field of view, signal dilution due to significant drift rates at high frequencies and the possibility of spectral confusion. We present the first technosignature survey using archival ALMA data in Band 3, focusing on two spectral windows centred on 90.642 GHz and 93.151 GHz. Our survey places new limits at these frequencies on the prevalence of extraterrestrial transmitters for 28 galactic stars, selected from the Gaia DR3 catalogue. We employ a stellar 'bycatch' method to sample these objects within the undistorted field of view of four ALMA calibrators. For the closest star in our sample, we find no evidence of transmitters with EIRP_min > 7 x 10^17 W. To the best of our knowledge, this represents the first technosignature search conducted using ALMA data.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2411_19827
institution arXiv
publishDate 2024
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Conducting High Frequency Radio SETI using ALMA
Mason, Louisa A
Garrett, Michael A
Wandia, Kelvin
Siemion, Andrew P V
Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics
Astrophysics of Galaxies
The Atacama Millimeter/Submillimeter Array (ALMA) remains unparalleled in sensitivity at radio frequencies above 35 GHz. In this paper, we explore ALMA's potential for narrowband technosignature detection, considering factors such as the interferometer's undistorted field of view, signal dilution due to significant drift rates at high frequencies and the possibility of spectral confusion. We present the first technosignature survey using archival ALMA data in Band 3, focusing on two spectral windows centred on 90.642 GHz and 93.151 GHz. Our survey places new limits at these frequencies on the prevalence of extraterrestrial transmitters for 28 galactic stars, selected from the Gaia DR3 catalogue. We employ a stellar 'bycatch' method to sample these objects within the undistorted field of view of four ALMA calibrators. For the closest star in our sample, we find no evidence of transmitters with EIRP_min > 7 x 10^17 W. To the best of our knowledge, this represents the first technosignature search conducted using ALMA data.
title Conducting High Frequency Radio SETI using ALMA
topic Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics
Astrophysics of Galaxies
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2411.19827