Interplanetary and interstellar optical communication between intelligent beings: a historical approach

Guillermo A. Lemarchand

doi:10.1117/12.243446

24 June 1996 Interplanetary and interstellar optical communication between intelligent beings: a historical approach

Guillermo A. Lemarchand

Proceedings Volume 2704, The Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI) in the Optical Spectrum II; (1996) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.243446
Event: Photonics West '96, 1996, San Jose, CA, United States

Abstract

A review of the different proposals made to establish contact with hypothetical planetary neighbors is done. For almost 100 years (approximately 1822-1921) the dominant paradigm for signaling extraterrestrial beings, were based in the exchange of light beam signals. After the success of wireless transatlantic communications and the discovery of radio signals from the cosmos, the main scientific proposals to contact extraterrestrials were based on radio signals. Nevertheless, the development of lasers and other nonlinear optical devices, led into a new set of proposals to use them for interplanetary and interstellar communication means. A review of these proposals and the detection of extraterrestrial technological activities in the optical domain is made. A summary of the requirements needed to explore the astrophysics of shortest timescales is described, in order to develop the nano and sub-nanosecond detectors that could be used to detect interstellar pulsed laser signals.

Citation Download Citation

Guillermo A. Lemarchand "Interplanetary and interstellar optical communication between intelligent beings: a historical approach", Proc. SPIE 2704, The Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI) in the Optical Spectrum II, (24 June 1996); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.243446

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