Stemming from a childhood immersed in science fiction literature, Paul Allen dreamed of other civilizations. "The sheer knowledge that another civilization exists—that would be an amazing thing," says Allen. In fact, many scientists believe there are other civilizations and that the "long shot" is that ours is the only one. Beginning in 2000, the Foundation initiated a series of grants to explore the possibilities of finding intelligent life outside our universe and to improve our understanding of the greater cosmos.
Foundation grants to the SETI (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence) Institute and to its major partner, University of California Berkeley, enabled these institutions, along with some of the tech industry's most respected big thinkers to create a completely new telescope design. Unlike other telescopes, which rely on a single large dish, the Allen Telescope Array now contains 42 small dishes that are employed concurrently to survey the skies for astronomical phenomena as well as engineered signals from other civilizations.
Today, the Allen Telescope Array is poised to make an important contribution to radio astronomy and is regarded as a pathfinder by astronomers throughout the world. The concept of a large number of small antenna dishes pioneered by the Array now serves as a model for other telescope designs, including the Square Kilometer Array—the massive radio telescope planned for construction in the southern hemisphere beginning in 2012.
The Allen Telescope Array has also developed the hardware and computing algorithms that are critical for the successful operation of this new generation of arrays. The Array's reliance on computing places it among only a handful of projects like it in the world. In fact, three separate U.S. patents have been granted for the technology developments used to create the Array.
Among the most notable work being done with the Allen Telescope Array is the completion of wide-field surveys, including studies of intergalactic atomic hydrogen that will help in the detection of galaxies composed of dark matter. Just as important, research conducted with the enhanced sensitivity of the Allen Telescope Array has led to the discovery of four galaxy groups not previously observed.
Beyond the exciting space survey work, the Array's most promising scientific endeavor is the study of transient phenomena, such as neutron stars, supernovae, and pulsars. Because they are, by definition, short-lived, transient phenomena are extremely difficult to study. Recently, the Array took a significant step in moving this research forward by pioneering the use of a "fly's eye" configuration—pointing all 42 of the Array's dishes in different directions at once, giving scientists the ability to look at a very broad swath of sky. This approach is expected to facilitate detection of ultra-bright radio bursts, adding to our understanding of general relativity.
The Allen Telescope Array is also enabling scientists around the world to carry out their own research by offering access to its unique facilities and hundreds of hours of observing time.
Future expansion of the Allen Telescope Array with more dishes will make the telescope even more powerful and is expected to yield more important scientific data, including being able to focus on fainter, but more typical, space phenomena.
Web site: ral.berkeley.edu/ata/
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Photo credit: Seth Shostak, SETI Institute
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