Breakthrough Listen, the global initiative looking for signs of intelligent life in the Universe, has expanded its ongoing search for extraterrestrial (ET) signals and "technosignatures" by tying-up with the MeerKAT telescope in South Africa, the world's largest radio telescope array.
Breakthrough Listen is the largest ever scientific research program aimed at finding evidence of extraterrestrial civilizations in the Universe.
It announced the launch of a major new program with the MeerKAT telescope in partnership with the South African Radio Astronomy Observatory (SARAO). Breakthrough Listen's MeerKAT survey will examine a million individual stars or 1,000 times the number of targets in any previous search. MeerKAT's survey will search for technosignatures in the quietest part of the radio spectrum and hunt for signs of extraterrestrial technology.
Listen can now operate 24 hours a day, seven days a week, in parallel with other surveys with the addition of MeerKAT's observations. It's also expected to significantly increase knowledge of how the Universe formed; how the Universe works and what might shape its future.
Partnering with MeerKAT will significantly enhance the capabilities of Breakthrough Listen, said Yuri Milner, founder of the Breakthrough Initiatives. MeerKAT transforms Breakthrough Listen's effort into a truly global project, noted Milner.
Built and operated by SARAO and inaugurated this July 13, MeerKAT is a powerful array of 64 radio antennas in the Karoo Desert. By partnering with MeerKAT, Breakthrough Listen gains access to one of the world's premier observing facilities at radio wavelengths.
Signals from the MeerKAT's 64 dishes are combined electronically to create a powerful combination of sensitivity, resolution, and field of view. MeerKAT is to be found 90 kilometers outside the small town of Carnarvon in the Northern Cape.
MeerKAT also serves as a precursor to the Square Kilometre Array (SKA), which will expand and enhance the current facility in the coming decades. SKA will eventually span a million square meters across South Africa and Australia to create the world's largest radio telescope by far. MeerKAT will be integrated into Phase 1 of the mid-frequency component of the SKA.
When it opened in July, MeerKAT's capabilities were highlighted by a breathtaking photo it took of the Black Hole at the center of our Milky Way galaxy gorging greedily on the matter.
MeerKAT was designed to be a flexible instrument that will provide standard interfaces to user-supplied equipment, and also allow for commensal observing. These two design elements have made the Breakthrough Listen project possible, allowing for a significant expansion of the original MeerKAT functionality.
Breakthrough Initiatives' Executive Director, Pete Worden said Listen and MeerKAT are developing next-generation technology and techniques that will ultimately lead to proposals for searches with the Square Kilometre Array. Worden said the partnership with MeerKAT is an exciting moment for SETI (the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence) and radio astronomy.
