The search for extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI) in the optical spectrum: a review

Stuart A. Kingsley

doi:10.1117/12.150129

6 August 1993 The search for extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI) in the optical spectrum: a review

Stuart A. Kingsley

Proceedings Volume 1867, The Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI) in the Optical Spectrum; (1993) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.150129
Event: OE/LASE'93: Optics, Electro-Optics, and Laser Applications in Scienceand Engineering, 1993, Los Angeles, CA, United States

Abstract

This paper strongly suggests that the microwave rationale behind modern-day SETI lore is suspect, and that our search for electromagnetic signals from extraterrestrial technical civilizations may be doomed to failure because we are 'tuned to the wrong frequencies'. The old idea that lasers would be better for interstellar communications is revisited. That optical transmissions might be superior for CETI/SETI has generally been discounted by the community. Indeed, there is very little in the literature about the optical approach, as its efficacy was more or less dismissed by SETI researchers some twenty years ago. The main reason that the laser approach to SETI has been given a bad 'press' is the assumption that ETIs lack the skills to target narrow optical beams into selected stars. This assumption of ineptitude is shown to be erroneous, and calls into question some aspects of the rationale for Microwave SETI. The detectability of both continuous wave and pulsed visible/infrared laser signals is described in some detail.

Citation Download Citation

Stuart A. Kingsley "The search for extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI) in the optical spectrum: a review", Proc. SPIE 1867, The Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI) in the Optical Spectrum, (6 August 1993); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.150129

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