Free Astronomy Magazine November-December 2020

NOVEMBER-DECEMBER 2020 life aware of the cosmos that surrounds them. We have seen that, statistically, it is necessary to observe or “listen to” hundreds of millions of stars to have a minimal chance of recording any unnatural signal. Obvi- ously, the situation has not changed in the last two months, but a small step has been taken, as reported in Publications of the Astronomical Society of Australia (PASA), where the results of a survey that deserves to be commented on have appeared. This umpteenth SETI study was conducted by Chenoa Tremblay and Steven Tingay (Curtin University, Australia) using the Murchison Widefield Array (MWA) radio telescope of the Murchison Radio-as- tronomy Observa- tory. Between 5 and 23 January 2018, the two Australian re- searchers tuned the MWA to the 98-128 MHz frequency range and aimed it at an area of sky about 400 square degrees wide, centered on the constellation Vela. That range of frequencies falls within the FM (frequency modulation) band, typically used on Earth for radio broadcasting. When we T he vast ex- panses of Western Australia are perfect for radio astronomy. In the fore- ground, one of the 256 MWA grids, spread over several square kilometers. [Pete Wheeler, ICRAR] On the left, other installations, with researcher Nichole Barry present in the grid, making it possible to esti- mate the size of the antennas. [Ruby Byrne]