A Search for Brief Optical Flashes Associated with the SETI Target KIC 8462852
A. U. Abeysekara, S. Archambault, A. Archer, W. Benbow, R. Bird, M., Buchovecky, J. H. Buckley, K. Byrum, J. V Cardenzana, M. Cerruti, X. Chen, J., L. Christiansen, L. Ciupik, W. Cui, H. J. Dickinson, J. D. Eisch, M. Errando,, A. Falcone, D. J. Fegan, Q. Feng, J. P. Finley
TL;DR
This study used archival VERITAS data to search for brief optical flashes from KIC 8462852, a star of interest for SETI, but found no evidence of extraterrestrial signals within the sensitivity limits.
Contribution
It presents a novel analysis methodology for optical SETI using gamma-ray observatory data and applies it to archival observations of KIC 8462852.
Findings
No pulsed optical beacons detected above 1 photon/m^2
Archival data can be used for optical SETI searches
Discusses potential of atmospheric Cherenkov telescopes for transient searches
Abstract
The F-type star KIC 8462852 has recently been identified as an exceptional target for SETI (search for extraterrestrial intelligence) observations. We describe an analysis methodology for optical SETI, which we have used to analyse nine hours of serendipitous archival observations of KIC 8462852 made with the VERITAS gamma-ray observatory between 2009 and 2015. No evidence of pulsed optical beacons, above a pulse intensity at the Earth of approximately 1 photon per m^2, is found. We also discuss the potential use of imaging atmospheric Cherenkov telescope arrays in searching for extremely short duration optical transients in general.
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