Akshay Suresh, a graduate student at Cornell University, spearheads an extraordinary scientific endeavor -- a groundbreaking mission to uncover periodic signals emanating from the core of the Milky Way called the Breakthrough Listen Investigation for Periodic Spectral Signals (BLIPSS). Such repetitive patterns could be the key to unlocking the mysteries of extraterrestrial intelligence in our galaxy. Suresh and his co-authors detail the project’s results thus far in a paper accepted for publication in the Astronomical Journal, “A 4–8 GHz Galactic Center Search for Periodic Technosignatures.”
BLIPSS is a collaboration between Cornell University, the SETI Institute, and Breakthrough Listen. By directing their focus towards the central region of the Milky Way, with its dense congregation of stars and possibly habitable exoplanets, the BLIPSS team amplifies the odds of capturing compelling evidence of extraterrestrial technology. If an alien civilization wanted to communicate with other civilizations throughout the Milky Way, the galaxy’s core holds potential as a strategic site for a beacon.
“BLIPSS showcases the cutting-edge potential of software as a science multiplier for SETI,” said Suresh.