The First High Frequency Technosignature Search Survey with the Sardinia Radio Telescope

The quest for radio signals from technologically-advanced extraterrestrial intelligence has traditionally concentrated on the vicinity of 1.4 GHz.

In this paper, we extend the search to unprecedented territories, detailing our extensive observations at 6 GHz and initiating the first-ever survey at 18 GHz with the Sardinia Radio Telescope (SRT).

Our strategy entailed rigorous observation sessions, totaling 36 hours, directed towards the Galactic Center and 72 selected TESS targets-making this the most comprehensive high-frequency technosignature search to date.

Our narrowband signal search found no definitive evidence of drifting signals that could suggest an extraterrestrial origin from the surveyed regions. Nevertheless, our efforts have enabled us to set new constraints on the presence of radio emissions from approximately 5×10⁵ stars, establishing an isotropic radiated power limit of 1.8×10¹⁹W.

We also provide a comparative analysis of the ‘hits’ recorded across both frequencies to highlight the significance of pursuing technosignature searches at higher frequencies, where the spectral landscape is less congested and more conducive to detection.

Lorenzo Manunza, Alice Vendrame, Luca Pizzuto, Monica Mulas, Karen I. Perez, Vishal Gajjar, Andrea Melis, Maura Pilia, Delphine Perrodin, Giambattista Aresu, Marta Burgay, Alessandro Cabras, Giuseppe Carboni, Silvia Casu, Tiziana Coiana, Alessandro Corongiu, Steve Croft, Elise Egron, Owen A. Johnson, Adelaide Ladu, Matt Lebofsky, Francesca Loi, David MacMahon, Emilio Molinari, Matteo Murgia, Alberto Pellizzoni, Tonino Pisanu, Antonio Poddighe, Erika Rea, Andrew Siemion, Paolo Soletta, Matteo Trudu, Valentina Vacca

Comments: Submitted to Acta Astronautica
Subjects: High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena (astro-ph.HE); Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics (astro-ph.IM)
Cite as: arXiv:2410.09288 [astro-ph.HE](or arXiv:2410.09288v1 [astro-ph.HE] for this version)
https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2410.09288
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Submission history
From: Lorenzo Manunza
[v1] Fri, 11 Oct 2024 22:36:34 UTC (2,518 KB)
https://arxiv.org/abs/2410.09288

Astrobiology, SETI,