Prof. Jun Yan, Director General of NAOC, and Pete Worden, Chairman of Breakthrough Prize Foundation and Executive Director of Breakthrough Initiatives. (Photo : Breakthrough Prize Foundation )
The National Astronomical Observatories of China (NAOC) has partnered with the Breakthrough Initiatives to launch a coordinated search for evidence of intelligent life beyond Earth (also called SETI), using some of the world's most powerful telescopes.
NAOC's brand-new Five hundred meter Aperture Spherical (FAST) telescope -- the world's largest filled-aperture radio receiver -- will join the Breakthrough Listen program at Green Bank Telescope in the US and the Parkes Observatory in Australia in SETI.
Together, the organizations will exchange observing plans, search methods and data, including the rapid sharing of promising new signals for additional observation and analysis. The two parties are also planning a series of meetings and conferences to refine search strategies, data analyses and results.
The collaboration was announced at a signing ceremony at NAOC headquarters in Beijing via a joint statement by Prof. Jun Yan, Director General of NAOC, and Pete Worden, Chairman of Breakthrough Prize Foundation and Executive Director of Breakthrough Initiatives.
Both looked forward to "a long and productive scientific collaboration," and invited scientists around the world to join in "one of humanity's greatest quests."
"'Are we alone?' is a question that unites us as a planet," said Yuri Milner, Founder of the Breakthrough Initiatives,
"And the quest to answer it should take place at a planetary level too. With this agreement, we are now searching for cosmic companions with three of the world's biggest telescopes across three continents."
FAST, which is located in Guizhou, achieved first light this September. It is the world's largest filled-aperture radio receiver, "and will be one of the most powerful instruments to search for the potential intelligent life beyond Earth," said Yan.
"We are delighted to be collaborating with the Breakthrough Initiatives."
"The FAST telescope is a remarkable instrument with unprecedented power," said Worden.
The Breakthrough Initiatives are a set of long-term astronomical programs exploring the Universe, seeking scientific evidence of life beyond Earth, and encouraging public debate from a planetary perspective.
Launched in July 2015, Breakthrough Listen is the most comprehensive astronomical search for intelligent life ever undertaken. It employs two of the world's biggest radio telescopes: the Green Bank Telescope in West Virginia, USA, and the Parkes Observatory in New South Wales, Australia.
It also includes the Automated Planet Finder at Lick Observatory in California that searches for laser signals.
