A Cost-Effective Search for Extraterrestrial Probes in the Solar System
Beatriz Villarroel, Wesley A. Watters, Alina Streblyanska, Enrique Solano, Stefan Geier, Lars Mattsson

TL;DR
This paper explores innovative, cost-effective methods for detecting extraterrestrial probes in the solar system, demonstrating a new approach using Earth's shadow with initial promising results from ZTF data.
Contribution
It introduces four novel methods for finding extraterrestrial artifacts and provides a proof-of-concept for using Earth's shadow as a detection filter, expanding SETI search strategies.
Findings
Uncovered previously unknown transient events near Earth's shadow
Validated the feasibility of using Earth's shadow as a detection domain
Demonstrated initial success with ZTF data analysis
Abstract
For centuries, astronomers have discussed the possibility of inhabited worlds - from Herschel's 18th-century observations suggesting Mars may host life, to the systematic search for technosignatures that began in the 1960s using radio telescopes. Searching for artifacts in the solar system has received relatively little formal scientific interest and has faced significant technical and social challenges. Automated surveys and new observational techniques developed over the past decade now enable astronomers to survey parts of the sky for anomalous objects. We briefly describe four methods for detecting extraterrestrial artifacts and probes within the Solar System and then focus on demonstrating one of these. The first makes use of pre-Sputnik images to search for flashes from glinting objects. The second method makes use of space-borne telescopes to search for artificial objects. A…
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