Advocates of the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence, or SETI, believe that advanced civilizations would spend the resources necessary to make contact with their cosmic neighbors, particularly those within relatively direct earshot. "Knowing where to look tremendously reduces the amount of radio telescope time we will need to conduct the search," Henry said. The California-base SETI Institute is building a dedicated array of telescopes to hunt for alien radio signals. Henry and his team want to use the observatory to comb stars in the plane of Earth's orbit. The first 42 radio dishes of the Allen Telescope Array were activated in October. Upon completion, the array, which is located in Hat Creek, Calif., just north of Lassen Volcanic National Park, will have 350 dishes. Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen provided the seed money for the project, which is built around commercially available, 20-foot diameter radio dishes and telecommunications equipment. Combined, the network has a wide field of view that is ideal for rapid surveys of the sky. Partners in the project include the University of California at Berkeley, the National Science Foundation and several corporate and individual donors. Related Links: Irene Klotz's blog: Free Space |
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