A new Telescope for Seti

[Sir Ulli]

Press Releases
March 18, 2004

PAUL G. ALLEN CHARITABLE FOUNDATION FUNDS NEXT PHASE IN CONSTRUCTION OF THE WORLD'S NEWEST RADIO TELESCOPE ARRAY

The SETI Institute and UC Berkeley announce phased construction plan of the Allen Telescope Array

Three years of successful research and development expedites scientific investigation by years

Mountain View, CA (March 18, 2004) – Investor and philanthropist Paul G. Allen has committed $13.5 million to support the construction of the first and second phases of the Allen Telescope Array (the ATA-32 and ATA-206), the world's newest multiple use radio telescope array. The ATA will eventually consist of 350 – 6.1-meter dishes (ATA-350), when construction is completed late in the decade. The announcement was made today by Thomas Pierson, chief executive officer for the SETI Institute, a leading astrobiology institution with the mission of exploring the origin, nature and prevalence of life in the universe. The ATA is a partnership between the SETI Institute and the Radio Astronomy Laboratory of the University of California, Berkeley (RAL).

Today's announcement follows the successful completion of a three-year research and development phase which was originally funded by an $11.5 million gift from the Allen Foundation. The R & D proved that one of the primary advantages of the array design – its scalability – makes it possible for the ATA to conduct scientific investigations as soon as the first 32 dishes are installed.

http://www.seti-inst.edu/image/dish_delivery_sm.jpg
First truckload of dishes for the Allen Telescope Array arrive at Hat Creek Observatory on March 18.
PHOTO CREDIT: David DeBoer.

look at the Full Story at Seti Institute (http://www.seti-inst.edu/about_us/info_for_media/press_releases/paul_allen_next_phase.html)

Because of its ability to study many areas on the sky at once, with more channels and for 24 hours a day, the Allen Telescope Array will permit an expansion from Project Phoenix's stellar reconnaissance of 1,000 stars to 100 thousand or even 1 million nearby stars.

The Allan Telescope Array Overview (http://www.seti.org/seti/our_projects/allen_telescope_array/Welcome.html)

Sir Ulli

[eaglescouter]

Good job Sir Ulli, I just arrived to post the same information!

[eaglescouter]

Most SETI experiments of the past have relied on existing radio telescopes. While this allows such searches to be conducted on quite large instruments (for example, the mammoth 305 m Arecibo dish, in Puerto Rico), the amount of telescope time available for the search is necessarily restricted. Project Phoenix for example takes control of the Arecibo telescope for approximately three weeks in the Spring and a similar block of time in the Fall. Since our observations take place only at night ( the sun can seriously degrade the type of narrow-band signals that SETI looks for when observing close to the ecliptic, as required by Arecibo's limited sky coverage), this really amounts to a total of three weeks of full-time observing annually.

The Allen Telescope Array will offer SETI scientists access to the telescope 24 hours per day, seven days a week and permit the search of many different target stars simultaneously. As a result, the Allen Telescope Array will speed up SETI targeted searching by a factor of at least 100.


Because of its ability to study many areas on the sky at once, with more channels and for 24 hours a day, the Allen Telescope Array will permit an expansion from Project Phoenix's stellar reconnaissance of 1,000 stars to 100 thousand or even 1 million nearby stars.


http://www.seti.org/image/ata_phoenix_01.jpg

More info here: http://www.seti.org/seti/our_projects/allen_telescope_array/overview/general.html

[hallen]

Microsoft's Allen funds extraterrestrial hunt

http://www.cnn.com/2004/TECH/space/03/22/allen.alien.reut/index.html

[Sir Ulli]

The Search Continues with the Allen Telescope Array

Mar. 25, 2004
by SETI Institute Staff -

After three years of research and development, the SETI Institute unveiled a three tier construction plan for the Allen Telescope Array, the world�s newest multiple use radio telescope array that will be built and operated in partnership with the University of California, Berkeley. Last week Thomas Pierson, chief executive officer for the SETI Institute, announced investor and philanthropist Paul G. Allen has committed $13.5 million to support the construction of the first and second phases of the Allen Telescope Array (the ATA-32 and ATA-206). The ATA will eventually consist of 350 � 6.1-meter dishes (ATA-350), when construction is completed late in the next decade. Construction of the ATA is underway at the Hat Creek Observatory, 290 miles northeast of San Francisco on a site operated by the RAL in an area that is �radio quiet,� thereby reducing the level of interfering signals from man-made sources. The ATA-32 is scheduled to begin conducting scientific investigations by the end of 2004, significantly earlier than the 350-element array can be completed.

...

In addition to conducting a SETI survey of the inner galaxy, the ATA-32 will observe in the direction of the galactic anti-center to detect primordial deuterium, study dark matter in nearby dwarf galaxies, and generate maps of polyatomic molecules in molecular clouds.

I am eager to begin observing on the ATA, commented Dr. Jill C. Tarter, ATA project leader and Director of the Center for SETI Research at the Institute. Conducting observations 24/7 is a dream come true for any astronomer, and it is particularly exciting for the Institute�s astronomers, who have been constrained by limited time on other large centimeter wavelength telescopes. Finally, our tools are becoming commensurate with the size of our task.

http://www.seti.org/about_us/leadership/image/jill-t.jpg (http://www.seti.org/about_us/leadership/staff/jill_t.html)
Jill Tarter Director, Center for SETI Research

Full Story by

The Seti Institute (http://publish.seti.org/general/articles.php?id=170)

MFG
Sir Ulli