SETI: Upcoming Talk of Interest

by | Feb 22, 2016 | Astrobiology and SETI | 13 comments

Given the interest the unusual star KIC 8462852 has generated here and elsewhere, I want to be sure those of you in California are aware of an upcoming talk that touches on the matter, as well as broader SETI issues. Titled “The Breakthrough Initiative – Listen and Megastructures at KIC 8463,” the talk will be delivered by Andrew Siemion (UC-Berkeley). The venue is 1065 La Avenida Street, Mountain View, CA 94043. The time: Tuesday, February 23, 2016 from 12:00 PM to 1:00 PM (PST).

More at this web page, from which the description that follows:

Dr. Andrew Siemion, Director of the Berkeley SETI Research Center (BSRC) at the University of California, Berkeley, will present an overview of the Breakthrough Listen Initiative, 100-million-dollar, 10-year search for extraterrestrial intelligence. Dr. Siemion will also discuss other SETI efforts ongoing at the BSRC, including the successful citizen science project SETI@Home, as well as a concerted effort to undertake panchromatic observations of the mysterious Kepler star KIC 8462852.

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13 Comments

  1. David Crutcher on February 22, 2016 at 12:55

    I will be in California, but I am looking forwar
    To watching the talk on YouTube.

  2. Andrew Norman on February 22, 2016 at 13:08

    I would definitely attend, but have a work meeting scheduled. But these seminars usually get uploaded promptly to the SETI YouTube channel (“SETI Institute”) so we all should be able to enjoy it tomorrow night!

  4. Harry R Ray on February 22, 2016 at 15:29

    Many readers(from comments on PREVIOUS posts on this subject) have stated that he(strongly?)disfavors the non-natural cause hypothesis re KIC8462852. I ASSUME that “panchromatic search”(which appears above AND on the website MENTIONED above) would consist of LOFAR(for low-frequency bandwidths) continued searches by ATA, Green Bank(for frequencies up to 100GHz)and OSETI for the visible light spectrum. To make this search REALLY panchromatic, you would ALSO need to include Terahertz and infra-red. Correct me if I am wrong, but I do not believe that there are ANY SETI projects(or facilities that can be CONVERTED)capable of detecting FAINT Terahertz signals OR infra-red lasers. To make the search TOTALLY panchromatic, you would also need to include GALEX, Chandra, Swift, Fermi(GBM and LAX) and EVEN LIGO( for Kardeshev >III civilizations)!

  5. Andrew Norman on February 22, 2016 at 20:59

    Looks like my meeting has been cancelled, so I’ll be there!

  6. Robert on February 23, 2016 at 16:24

    Thanks for the information. A SETI talk actually about SETI! The weekly colloquium are also on the SETI website directly;

    http://www.seti.org/talks

  7. Andrew Norman on February 23, 2016 at 21:22

    The talk had covered the history of SETI and Breakthrough Listen really well, but didn’t have much info on Tabby’s Star. In the Q&A, Dr. Siemion did say, however, that he agreed Tabby’s Star is “a very interesting object” and that “no one has really put forth a more compelling explanation than the initial comet hypothesis”…which is to say, nothing very compelling. He also said that Breakthrough Listen would be pointing all their resources towards the star “very soon”, and I would say he seemed personally excited by the prospect. Stay tuned!

    • Harry R Ray on February 25, 2016 at 10:27

      Since Boyajian, Wright et al are going to be using the Green Bank facility AS SOON AS THE NEW SOFTWARE PACKAGE IS INTALLED AND TESTED(is there an update on WHEN THAT WILL BE DONE, anybody)I ASSUME that they will be using LOFAR(for Hz and LOW Mhz bandwidths) and JVLA(for bandwidths between one hundred Gigahertz and one Terahertz). THE SOONER THE BETTER!

  9. Harry R Ray on February 25, 2016 at 11:35

    Everybody who reads this should IMMEDIATELY go to the Vox Charta website(www.voxcharta.org), scroll down to [astro-ph #14] “Fermi GBM signal contemporaneous with GW150914-an unlikely asspciation.” by Maxim Lyutikov. It now app-ears to a point of ALMOST CERTANTY that these were TWO SEPARATE EVENTS! So. why am I posting this comment HERE instead of the gravitational wave blog? Let me explain! To me(correct me if I am wrong)the odds of two separate events LIKE THESE occurring within 0.4 milliseconds AND in the same general area of sky would appear to be ASTRONOMICAL if they were BOTH natural events, but not so much if the GW event was natural, but the GRB WASN’T! Immagine, if you will, an ET cibilization who ONLY wants to reveal their presence to civilizations ADVANCED ENOUGH to be ABLE to DETECT gravitational waves. They install a GW sensor in their Kuyper Belt or Oort Cloud that, as soon as a GW is detected, IMMEDIATELY DETONATES a thermonuclear device! For us to DETECT such a GRB, the ET’s would have to be relatively NEARBY! The “KIC8462852” analogy would indicate that the natural, although wery highly unlikely explanation should be STRONGLY FAVORED over the “aliens” explanation, FOR THIS ONE PAIR OF EVENTS, but, should ant FUTURE PAIR OF SIMILAR EVENTS re-occur(pushing the odds up to ASTRONOMICAL ON STEROIDS) my above scenario should be SERIOUSLY CONSIDERED!

    • Robert on February 26, 2016 at 14:32

      It’s the coincidence of two astronomical events so of course the odds are astronomical! But still likely just coincidence. Besides, we all know they are waiting to see us make a warp drive signal…:)

      • Harry R Ray on February 28, 2016 at 16:29

        I agree(AS I STATED ABOVE). BUT: if the SAME THING HAPPENS AGAIN, THAT’S when it starts to get VERY interesting!!!

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In Centauri Dreams, Paul Gilster looks at peer-reviewed research on deep space exploration, with an eye toward interstellar possibilities. For many years this site coordinated its efforts with the Tau Zero Foundation. It now serves as an independent forum for deep space news and ideas. In the logo above, the leftmost star is Alpha Centauri, a triple system closer than any other star, and a primary target for early interstellar probes. To its right is Beta Centauri (not a part of the Alpha Centauri system), with Beta, Gamma, Delta and Epsilon Crucis, stars in the Southern Cross, visible at the far right (image courtesy of Marco Lorenzi).

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