New Listening Experiment 'Redials' Studied Worlds

Investigators who search for signs of extraterrestrial activities and intelligence in the Universe are ready to start listening in again on distant worlds that were first surveyed some 50 years ago.

At the time, the first search for radio signals emanating from other civilizations ended up with no tangible results, but astronomers believe that they get a better shot at it this time around. Many of the stars that were part og the original Project Ozma are now being revisited.

The research initiative began earlier this month, and its opening was designed in such a manner so as to coincide with the 50th anniversary of the first project, which began back in 1960. The first endeavor was the first full-fledged effort of jump-starting the search for extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI).

Keeping in line with the tradition of naming this sort of investigations based on the Land of Oz book series, the experts in charge of the new search called their endeavor Project Dorothy, Space reports.

“It is thrilling for me to witness the beginnings of Project Dorothy, the continuation of my search of 50 years ago,” says famed astronomer Frank Drake, who is based at the SETI Institute, in Mountain View, California.

“To have so many talented people using so many telescopes in this new search, with the electronics and computer equipment of today, is a joyful thing to me,” adds the expert, who is also famous for developing an equation bearing his name.

The Drake equation shows the number of alien civilizations in the Universe that may have reached a sufficiently high level of development to enable direct communications. It therefore does not refer to worlds where only microorganisms developed.

“The equipment of today is far better than what we could have 50 years ago and will result in both very much better and very much more data than could be obtained then,” Drake argues. Based on his theory, other experts have predicted that we could stumble upon intelligent life forms within less than 25 years.

Project Dorothy is meant to facilitate just that. It kicked into gear on November 5, and researchers from France, the United States, South Korea, Japan, Australia, Argentina and Italy are participating.

“Two of the original stars from Project Ozma - Tau Ceti and Epsilon Eridani – are the nearest solar-type stars in the northern hemisphere,” says Shin-ya Narusawa, an astronomer at the Nishi-Harima Astronomical Observatory in Japan.

“Therefore, these two stars were the best SETI targets a half century ago. They remain the symbol of Project Ozma and are two of the target stars for Project Dorothy,” he concludes.