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SETI Optical Telescope

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Sir Ulli

Member
Joined
Oct 6, 2002
Location
Germany NRW
The first-ever Optical SETI Dedicated Observatory, funded by The Planetary Society, is due to open in April, 2006!

High on a wooded ridge in Harvard, Massachusetts an odd-looking structure has sprung up recently. Appearing from a distance like a small work shed, a closer inspection reveals some unusual features, including a retractable roof and a large side window with a sliding screen. A look inside is even more puzzling, for there, bolted to the ground, one finds a large elongated object, made of metal bars and mirrors. This strange object, that looks like nothing at all, represents one of the most ambitious SETI projects ever undertaken: an optical telescope dedicated exclusively to the search for extraterrestrial life. In April of 2006 it will point its giant mirror at the sky, and begin a systematic search for light signals from an alien civilization.

The new observatory is one of the largest SETI projects ever sponsored by The Planetary Society. Since its founding, the Society has been a leading advocate of the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence, supporting a wide variety of searches, making use of different approaches. Most of these - and the largest ones - were radio SETI projects such as BETA, SERENDIP, and, of course, SETI@home. Now, after decades of listening, The Planetary Society has turned its eyes to the skies to scan for possible light signals. "We have been listening for alien signals for decades,"said Louis Friedman, Executive Director of the Planetary Society; "it's time we started to watch for signals as well,"
...

Full Story

http://planetary.org/programs/projects/seti_optical_searches/

that looks Very interestink

Sir Ulli
 
Interesting stuff. I always thought that radiowaves that high frequency (light) is not good for this kind of project because they are easily blocked by clouds and other stuff in the atmosphere.
 
Hamm3r said:
Interesting stuff. I always thought that radiowaves that high frequency (light) is not good for this kind of project because they are easily blocked by clouds and other stuff in the atmosphere.

I have always thought the same, maybe it has something to do with the wave - particle duality that goes on with light.
 
In more recent times more and more SETI researchers are starting to belive that if other intelligent life exsists that they would try to point a giant *** laser beam at us to get our attention. Somthing about the time it takes to travel or somthing ...... and somthing about messages actually being encoded into the beam.
 
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