Breakthrough Listen Follow-up of the Reported Transient Signal Observed at the Arecibo Telescope in the Direction of Ross 128

TL;DR

This study conducted follow-up observations of a transient radio signal from Ross 128 using multiple telescopes, but found no detections, suggesting the signal may have originated from satellites rather than extraterrestrial sources.

Contribution

First simultaneous multi-telescope follow-up of a transient signal from Ross 128, providing evidence against extraterrestrial origin and highlighting potential satellite interference.

Findings

No detections in GBT C band or archival L band data.

Suggests satellite interference as the likely source.

Highlights importance of multi-telescope follow-up for transient signals.

Abstract

We undertook observations with the Green Bank Telescope, simultaneously with the 300m telescope in Arecibo, as a follow-up of a possible flare of radio emission from Ross 128. We report here the non-detections from the GBT observations in C band (4-8 GHz), as well as non-detections in archival data at L band (1.1-1.9 GHz). We suggest that a likely scenario is that the emission comes from one or more satellites passing through the same region of the sky.