View source for SERENDIP

'''SERENDIP''' ('''Search for Extraterrestrial Radio Emissions from Nearby Developed Intelligent Populations''') is a [[Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence]] (SETI) program originated by the [[Berkeley SETI Research Center]] at the [[University of California, Berkeley]].<ref name="SERENDIP">{{cite web | url = http://seti.ssl.berkeley.edu/serendip/ | title = SERENDIP | publisher = [[UC Berkeley]] | access-date = 2006-08-20 | url-status = dead | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20130311222213/http://seti.ssl.berkeley.edu/serendip | archive-date = 2013-03-11 }}</ref>
SERENDIP takes advantage of ongoing "mainstream" [[radio telescope]] observations as a "[[wikt:piggybacking|piggy-back]]" or "[[commensal]]" program. Rather than having its own observation program, SERENDIP analyzes [[Deep-sky object|deep space]] radio telescope data that it obtains while other [[astronomer]]s are using the telescope.
==Background==
The initial SERENDIP instrument was a 100-channel [[analog transmission|analog]] radio [[spectrometer]] covering 100&nbsp;[[kHz]] of [[Bandwidth (signal processing)|bandwidth]]. Subsequent instruments have been significantly more capable, with the number of channels doubling roughly every year. These instruments have been deployed at a large number of telescopes including the NRAO 90m telescope at Green Bank and the [[Arecibo Observatory|Arecibo 305m telescope]].
SERENDIP observations have been conducted at frequencies between 400 [[MHz]] and 5 [[GHz]], with most observations near the so-called Cosmic [[waterhole (radio)|Water Hole]] (1.42&nbsp;GHz (21&nbsp;cm) neutral [[hydrogen]] and 1.66&nbsp;GHz [[hydroxyl]] transitions).
==Projects==
SERENDIP V was installed at the [[Arecibo Observatory]] in June 2009. The digital back-end instrument was an [[FPGA]]-based 128 million-channel digital spectrometer covering 200&nbsp;MHz of bandwidth.  It took data commensally with the seven-beam Arecibo L-band Feed Array (ALFA).<ref>{{Cite web | url=http://www.naic.edu/alfa/ |title = ALFA: Arecibo L-Band Feed Array |date= 26 November 2012}}</ref>
The next generation of SERENDIP experiments, SERENDIP VI was deployed in 2014 at both [[Arecibo Observatory|Arecibo]] and the [[Green Bank Telescope]].<ref>{{cite web|last1=Lebofsky|first1=Matt|title=SETI@Home Mid June Update|url=http://setiathome.berkeley.edu/forum_thread.php?id=77575 |date=June 23, 2015 |access-date=23 June 2015}}</ref> SERENDIP VI will also look for fast radio bursts, in collaboration with scientists from [[University of Oxford]] and [[West Virginia University]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Winter 2013 SETI@home Letter |date=November 2013 |first=Jeff |last=Cobb |url=http://setiathome.berkeley.edu/donor_letter_nov13.php |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20131118070409/https://setiathome.berkeley.edu/donor_letter_nov13.php |archivedate=2013-11-18 |access-date=15 November 2013}}</ref>
==Findings==
The program has found around 400 suspicious signals, but there is not enough data to prove that they belong to [[extraterrestrial intelligence]].<ref>[http://lnfm1.sai.msu.ru/SETI/koi/articles/lmg%20seti%20poisk/1.9.htm Л.М.Гиндилис. Радиопоиск: век двадцатый]</ref> In September–October 2004 the media wrote about [[Radio source SHGb02+14a]] and its artificial origin, but scrutiny has not been able to confirm its connection with an extraterrestrial civilization.<ref>[http://lnfm1.sai.msu.ru/SETI/koi/bulletin/25/1.1.html Г.М.Рудницкий. Что обнаружили в Аресибо?]</ref> Currently no confirmed extraterrestrial signals have been found.<ref>[http://www.atheism.ru/science/science.phtml?id=863 Поиск внеземных цивилизаций]</ref>
==See also==
* [[Berkeley Open Infrastructure for Network Computing]] (BOINC)
* [[List of volunteer computing projects]]
* [[Radio source SHGb02+14a]]
* [[SETI]]
* [[SETI@home]]
* [[BLC1]]
* [[Wow! signal]]
==References and notes==
{{Reflist}}
{{Astrobiology}}
{{Extraterrestrial life}}
[[Category:Search for extraterrestrial intelligence]]
[[Category:University of California, Berkeley]]
[[Category:Astrobiology]]