Optical Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence

1. OSETI Optical Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence Kristina Krylova(University at Buffalo – SUNY) REU at Case Western Reserve University 27 July, 2010

2. Timeline Nationwide OSETI efforts Varieties of detector setups Night Sky Background simulation What’s next? Outline 2/12

3. 1959 – Giuseppe Cocconi and Philip Morrison: interstellar communication via radio waves 1960 – Theodore Maiman: first laser in Hughes Research Laboratory 1961 – Robert Schwartz and Charles Townes: paper suggesting use of laser 1993 – Stuart Kingsley: optical SETI in the US Timeline 3/12

4. Columbus Observatory, 1993 Harvard, 1998 Princeton, 1999 UC Berkley, 1999 Lick Observatory, 2000 Case Western Reserve, 2007 OSETI groups 4/12

6. ≈1.5 inch diameter PMTsData recording every 4 nanoseconds 5/12 Elementary Detector

7. 9 elementary detectors = 1 mega detector Threshold set on mega detector to lower background Lower threshold: more background vs. greater sensitivity BAD GOOD 6/12 Mega Detector Facts

8. Double Mega Detector 7/12

9. Quad Mega Detector 8/12

10. 9/12 Night Sky Background Simulation

11. Build and install the detectors Start taking data 10/12 What’s next?

12. Quad mega detector better eliminates background thus more sensitive to extraterrestrial signal Quad is twice as expensive as double Final detector design will depend on funding 11/12 Summary

13. Thank you for being here!kkrylova@buffalo.edu 12/12