AbstractIt has been more than four decades since the first, modern SETI experiment. Many hundreds of star systems have been observed in the radio over wide bandwidth and with impressive sensitivity, and the entire sky has been surveyed in a more restricted mode several times. Optical SETI experiments are underway, and have already scrutinized several thousand nearby stars, looking for nanosecond light pulses. Still, there is no confirmed signal detection. Given the anticipated improvement in both telescopes and digital electronics applied to SETI, what is the time scale for making such a discovery? In this paper we investigate the rate of stellar surveillance by targeted radio SETI experiments for the foreseeable future, and conclude that it is likely that—if the principal assumptions underlying modern SETI are reasonable—a detection will occur within a single generation.


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    Title :

    When will we detect the extraterrestrials?


    Contributors:

    Published in:

    Acta Astronautica ; 55 , 3-9 ; 753-758


    Publication date :

    2004-01-01


    Size :

    6 pages




    Type of media :

    Article (Journal)


    Type of material :

    Electronic Resource


    Language :

    English



    When will we detect the extraterrestrials?

    Shostak, Seth | Online Contents | 2004



    When will we detect the extraterrestrials?

    Shostak, S. / International Astronautical Federation / International Academy of Astronautics et al. | British Library Conference Proceedings | 2004