Breakthrough Listen: A Technosignature Search Around 27 Eclipsing Exoplanets Selected from the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite Catalogue

TL;DR

This study used radio telescope data during exoplanet eclipses to search for extraterrestrial technosignatures, but found all signals were terrestrial interference, demonstrating the challenge of distinguishing genuine signals.

Contribution

First to analyze radio signals during exoplanet eclipses for technosignatures, employing a Doppler search with the Breakthrough Listen data and the turboSETI pipeline.

Findings

No technosignatures detected; all signals identified as terrestrial RFI.

Eclipses are promising but challenging times for technosignature searches.

Data analysis pipeline effectively filters out interference but no extraterrestrial signals found.

Abstract

Here we analyse the archival data for a set of 27 Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) Targets of Interest (TOIs) in search for artificially generated radio signals, or 'technosignatures', interrupted by occultation. Exoplanetary eclipses are notable events to observe in the search for technosignatures, as they mark the geometrical alignment of the target, its host star, and Earth. During an eclipse event, any signal emanating from the target of interest should cease for the duration of the eclipse, and resume after the line-of-sight has been restored. Target observations were made by Breakthrough Listen (BL) using Murriyang, the CSIRO Parkes 64-m radio telescope, coupled with the Ultra-wide Low frequency (UWL) receiver covering a continuous range of frequencies spanning 704-4032 MHz inclusive. Each target was observed in a pattern consisting of six back-to-back 5-minute source and reference sky positions for comparison during data analysis. We performed a Doppler search for narrowband signals with a minimum signal-to-noise (S/N) ratio of 10, a minimum drift rate of $\pm0.1$ Hz/s, and a maximum drift rate of $\pm4.0$ Hz/s using the turboSETI pipeline. In the analysis of 1,954,880 signals, 14,639 passed automated radio interference filters where each event was presented as a set of stacked dynamic spectra. Despite manually inspecting each diagram for a signal of interest, all events were attributed to terrestrial radio frequency interference (RFI).