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A Large-scale Technosignature Survey of the Antisolar Point with the Allen Telescope Array: Survey Design and Pilot Results

Year: 2026
Type: article
Abstract: In the search for technosignatures, it can be useful to narrow down the cosmic haystack by prioritizing time-coordinate “Schelling points” at which a beacon may be more likely to be transmitted. One such Schelling point is the antisolar point (ASP), the place and moment at which Earth would lie directly between a hypothetical transmitter in the Earth's transit zone (i.e., ecliptic) and the Sun. In this work, we describe a campaign to survey the ASP for radio technosignatures using the Allen Telescope Array, report the results of 3 initial nights of data from a pilot study in summer 2023, and discuss the future of the campaign. In the pilot study, we find no sky-localized narrowband 1–2.4 GHz technosignatures within an R.A. range of approximately 20.266–21.312 hr during the ASP, setting an upper limit flux density threshold of 115–936 Jy.
DOI: 10.3847/1538-3881/aeaa59
Authors: Sofia Z. Sheikh, Eleanor Hort, Bárbara Cabrales, Isabel Gerrard, Wael Farah, Nick Tusay, David R. DeBoer, Saul Balcarcel-Salazar, Joe S. Bright, Luigi F. Cruz, Ben Jacobson-Bell, Mark Masters, Alexander W. Pollak, Seth Shostak, Carol Shumaker, Andrew Siemion
Institutions: Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence, University of California, Berkeley, University of New Mexico, University of Manchester, University of Oxford, University of Washington, University of California System, Stanford University, University of Malta
Language: English
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $4,499
OpenAlex ID: W7225160808
FWCI:
Cites: 43
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Related to: 10