SETI searches Kepler exoplanets for alien signals

THE SETI project — the search for intelligent life — has pointed its ears towards a new planet discovered by the Kepler space telescope.

THE SETI project — the search for intelligent life — has pointed its ears towards a new Earth-like planet discovered by the Kepler space telescope late last year.

The early results? Silence.

The Allen radio telescope array at Hat Creek, California, was tilted towards a piece of the Pisces constellation which has been under Kepler’s careful scrutiny in recent years — it’s sensitive instruments seeking the tiny “wobbles” in starlight which indicate the passing of an orbiting planet.

One such ‘wobble’ indicated the presence of a planet within a star’s “Goldilocks” zone — an orbit which provides the right temperature range to support liquid water.

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But it’s no paradise planet. Designated HIP 116454b, the ‘Super Earth’ — about 2.5 times larger than our own — zips around its star once every nine days. One face is believed likely to permanently face its star (a term called tidal-locked), resulting in half the planet being baked and the dark size being frozen.

Check out these concept-art posters on what it could be like to visit some exoplanets! http://t.co/Z9eQid8aHD #aas225 pic.twitter.com/BVmnj5Ho6g

— NASA (@NASA) January 7, 2015

So it’s not ideally suited to life as we know it.

Nevertheless, such conditions piqued SETI’s interest — so it devoted some of its radio-telescope time for a quick listen-in on the planet.

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“As centuries of experience have shown, observation sometimes trumps expectation, and that is why new exoplanets — whether they seem promising for life or not — are routinely observed by the SETI Institute,” senior astronomer Seth Shostak wrote.

The result?

No early ‘Wow’ signals were detected.

But observations are continuing at different frequencies.

And SETI now has several new hopeful targets.

Astronomers have been busy again! This time with the first multiple-planet system from K2.http://t.co/VjjvSMSgwf pic.twitter.com/PEiWxsJ2t4

— NASA Kepler (@NASAKepler) January 21, 2015

Three new Earth-size planets were found in one of Kepler’s most recent surveys, the results of which were announced earlier this month.

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One of these worlds may be the most Earth-like yet discovered.

Kepler 438b is only 12 per cent bigger than our own planet, meaning its chances of holding an atmosphere like ours is increased. It is also within its star’s “Goldilocks” zone — a distance where liquid water could form.

The second planet, Kepler 442b, is a bit bigger — 33 per cent heavier than Earth — but still fits within what scientists believe is a range of conditions suitable for hosting life.

Remember – the @NASAKepler field of view is only a tiny slice of our galaxy. There are a LOT of planets out there! pic.twitter.com/prjNujuoKB

— Jason Major (@JPMajor) January 6, 2015

The third planet, while in the ‘Goldilocks’ zone, appears to be a gas giant.

SETI used to randomly select stars towards which its electronic ears were directed in the search for narrowband radio transmissions which may indicate the presence of intelligent life.

Now the likes of Kepler and others are providing indications of what stars have potentially habitable worlds, SETI is following-up on these discoveries with directed searches of its own.

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The discovery of these new Earth-like exoplanets is a significant victory for the team behind the Kepler telescope. The satellite suffered a breakdown in 2013 which threatened the cancellation of the program.

But a ‘workaround’ has since been devised to keep Kepler’s eye on nearby stars in its search for new worlds.

Science fiction provides lessons for communicating with ET, says designer Marek Kultys:http://t.co/7ew13dQ1wf pic.twitter.com/gARvFOZC9u

— The SETI Institute (@SETIInstitute) January 22, 2015

@JamieSeidel