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Ground Control to Major Tom
How home astronomers keep eye on universe
By Deborah Taylor-Hollis
On Monday, March 15, at 11:29 and 29 seconds p.m., a moment of time and space was caught at the Arecibo satellite station, recorded into 0's and 1's, and put into storage. It was a moment when all the sounds in that section of the sky that night were set into computer language to be searched at a later date when someone had time to look for signs of life in the universe. I am that person. Now, I work for SETI (Search for Extra Terrestrial Intelligence).
Actually, over a million people in America work for SETI, which is something I could only dream about as a child when I first looked up into the night sky and understood that those points up there weren't only lights--they were worlds, stars, galaxies; the future and the past and an infinite number of possibilities all floating past in the dark. It's not hard work--and there's absolutely no experience required. And it's very cool.
I first heard about the SETI home computer project last December. Now I'm working on section "6 hr 34 min 15 sec RA + 28 deg 35 min 24 sec DEC" (gobbledygook for a distant piece of sky), searching through the bits for something, anything, unusual. And I don't have to do anything. My computer does it all.
By clicking on to SETI@Home (setiat home.ssl.berkeley.edu/), I OK'd the disclaimer that I promise to give all my computer information to SETI first, and then downloaded my section to work on--about 20 hours of sound as digital input that my computer will check when I'm not around.
When I stop working and let my computer go idle, it will wait five minutes before it shows a "screen saver" which is an electronic image of my sound waves being worked though, with a display containing information about my section. It shows that for another five minutes (you can change how long or short all these times are), and then my computer appears to do what it always does--go to sleep. But it's still working on the section even with the screen dark. I have a hard time believing that my dark but still functioning computer is actually looking through a small bit of eternity. When all of it has been checked, the program will automatically tell me to send it back to SETI@Home, and get a new one to start on. And all I have to know is how to connect online.
I was a bit concerned about how this would affect the other programs and applications already in my computer, but so far it's been perfectly normal--I don't even know the program is in there, searching away when I'm not typing. And even though I use the more capable Mac program, I'm assured it will work on PCs as well. About the only thing it costs me is the small amount of electricity I use to keep my computer turned on all day even if I'm not actually using it. So I guess it's costing me about a dollar a month to be a part of history as a groundbreaking "home astronomer."
From the first time man looked up at the moon (her name is Selene, by the way) he has wondered if, in all the universe, he is all alone or if somewhere there are "others." The most wonderful or the most terrifying prospect mankind has ever contemplated boils down to that question. When I told my friends Nathan, 11, and Andrew, 14, about SETI, their eyes sparkled, and they couldn't wait to get online and sign up their home computer (Andrew said it's like a part-time job for his Mac).
The SETI website is full of interesting information, interviews with the Berkeley staff and scientific background. The Q&A section explains what will happen if an extraterrestrial signal is detected.
"A procedure has been agreed upon by SETI researchers around the world. First, other SETI researchers will independently verify the signal. If the signal is real and can't be explained by manmade sources (satellites, reflections, etc.) then press agencies and governments will be notified in a systematic way."
They also remind people that they will get credit as co-discoverers if their chunk of data finds the first audio contact.
Considering that, as of Sept. 4, there are 1,144,682 people helping online, and that 432,496 of them just signed on and haven't finished their first chunk of data, it's easy to see how many people are fascinated with the search for life in the universe. And just like the lottery, the odds that your piece of sound will be the one with that noise is getting smaller all the time.
To contact earthlings, please write DTHollis@metronews.com.
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Willow Glen, California Since 1992
