Sofia Sheikh
February 8, 2024
Zoom recording
Abstract:
The Allen Telescope Array (ATA) is a 42-dish radio interferometer located in Hat Creek, California and operated by the SETI Institute. The ATA is in the process of being upgraded with new feeds and improved backends, which should be completed on all 42 antennas by the end of 2024. In the meantime, the instrument is being used in a 20-element mode for a host of Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI) programs, in keeping with the spirit of its original technosignature-focused design. In this talk, I will review the current state of the array and its future capabilities with regards to technosignature searches, and give an overview of four exciting SETI programs on the new instrument: a nearby star survey, an anti-solar point search, a planet-planet occultation observation, and a SETI ellipsoid campaign. I will also briefly mention the transformative non-SETI science being produced by the ATA, e.g., Fast Radio Burst (FRB) characterization and slow transient science.