A radio technosignature search towards Proxima Centauri resulting in a signal of interest

Shane Smith; Danny C. Price; Sofia Z. Sheikh; Daniel J. Czech; Steve Croft; David DeBoer; Vishal Gajjar; Howard Isaacson; Brian C. Lacki; Matt Lebofsky; David H. E. MacMahon; Cherry Ng; Karen I. Perez; Andrew P.V. Siemion; Claire Isabel Webb; Jamie Drew; S. Pete Worden; Andrew Zic

doi:10.1038/s41550-021-01479-w

A radio technosignature search towards Proxima Centauri resulting in a signal of interest

Shane Smith, Danny C. Price^*, Sofia Z. Sheikh, Daniel J. Czech, Steve Croft, David DeBoer, Vishal Gajjar, Howard Isaacson, Brian C. Lacki, Matt Lebofsky, David H. E. MacMahon, Cherry Ng, Karen I. Perez, Andrew P.V. Siemion, Claire Isabel Webb, Jamie Drew, S. Pete Worden, Andrew Zic

^*Corresponding author for this work

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Abstract

The detection of life beyond Earth is an ongoing scientific pursuit, with profound implications. One approach, known as the search for extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI), seeks to find engineered signals (‘technosignatures’) that indicate the existence of technologically capable life beyond Earth. Here, we report on the detection of a narrowband signal of interest at ~982 MHz, recorded during observations towards Proxima Centauri with the Parkes Murriyang radio telescope. This signal, BLC1, has characteristics broadly consistent with hypothesized technosignatures and is one of the most compelling candidates to date. Analysis of BLC1—which we ultimately attribute to being an unusual but locally generated form of interference—is provided in a companion paper. Nevertheless, our observations of Proxima Centauri are a particularly sensitive search for radio technosignatures towards a stellar target.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	1148-1152
Number of pages	5
Journal	Nature Astronomy
Volume	5
Issue number	11
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1038/s41550-021-01479-w
Publication status	Published - Nov 2021

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Publisher version (open access)Final published version, 1.47 MBLicence: CC BY

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Smith, S., Price, D. C., Sheikh, S. Z., Czech, D. J., Croft, S., DeBoer, D., Gajjar, V., Isaacson, H., Lacki, B. C., Lebofsky, M., MacMahon, D. H. E., Ng, C., Perez, K. I., Siemion, A. P. V., Webb, C. I., Drew, J., Worden, S. P., & Zic, A. (2021). A radio technosignature search towards Proxima Centauri resulting in a signal of interest. Nature Astronomy, 5(11), 1148-1152. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41550-021-01479-w

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abstract = "The detection of life beyond Earth is an ongoing scientific pursuit, with profound implications. One approach, known as the search for extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI), seeks to find engineered signals ({\textquoteleft}technosignatures{\textquoteright}) that indicate the existence of technologically capable life beyond Earth. Here, we report on the detection of a narrowband signal of interest at ~982 MHz, recorded during observations towards Proxima Centauri with the Parkes Murriyang radio telescope. This signal, BLC1, has characteristics broadly consistent with hypothesized technosignatures and is one of the most compelling candidates to date. Analysis of BLC1—which we ultimately attribute to being an unusual but locally generated form of interference—is provided in a companion paper. Nevertheless, our observations of Proxima Centauri are a particularly sensitive search for radio technosignatures towards a stellar target.",

author = "Shane Smith and Price, {Danny C.} and Sheikh, {Sofia Z.} and Czech, {Daniel J.} and Steve Croft and David DeBoer and Vishal Gajjar and Howard Isaacson and Lacki, {Brian C.} and Matt Lebofsky and MacMahon, {David H. E.} and Cherry Ng and Perez, {Karen I.} and Siemion, {Andrew P.V.} and Webb, {Claire Isabel} and Jamie Drew and Worden, {S. Pete} and Andrew Zic",

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Smith, S, Price, DC, Sheikh, SZ, Czech, DJ, Croft, S, DeBoer, D, Gajjar, V, Isaacson, H, Lacki, BC, Lebofsky, M, MacMahon, DHE, Ng, C, Perez, KI, Siemion, APV, Webb, CI, Drew, J, Worden, SP & Zic, A 2021, 'A radio technosignature search towards Proxima Centauri resulting in a signal of interest', Nature Astronomy, vol. 5, no. 11, pp. 1148-1152. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41550-021-01479-w

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AU - Webb, Claire Isabel

AU - Drew, Jamie

AU - Worden, S. Pete

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A radio technosignature search towards Proxima Centauri resulting in a signal of interest

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