BIOASTRONOMY

ITASEL (Italian Search for Extraterrestrial Life)

Involved IRA Scientists, Engineers, Technicians and Collaborators: C.B. Cosmovici (IFSI-INAF), S. Montebugnoli, S. Pogrebenko (JIVE), E. Flamini (ASI), M. Bartolini, S. Pluchino, F. Schillirò, G.Pupillo ( OA,Torino), A. Mattana (IFSI-INAF).

ITASEL is a Bioastronomy joint Project between IFSI (Istituto di Fisica dello Spazio Interplanetario) and IRA (Istituto di Radioastronomia) financed by the Italian Space Agency (ASI).  Its main purpose is the development of new challenging spectral radio technologies to be applied to the Medicina and other powerful radiotelescopes in order to detect water and life bearing molecules in comets and (exo) planetary systems.

After the promising discovery of the first water MASER emission in the solar system due to the catastrophic impact of Comet Shoemaker-Levy with the Jovian Atmosphere (1994), we decided to use this discovery as a powerful and unique diagnostic tool for water search in exoplanetary systems where cometary bombardments occur today as they occurred in our planet billions of years ago. Moreover calculations have shown that the 22 GHz MASER emission can be observed also in water rich atmospheres where the necessary pumping can be delivered by photo-deposited energy which can affect the level populations. Up to now we searched for water in 35 exoplanetary systems and we carried out observations of stellar regions where either cometary clouds have been discovered, or planetary systems have been indirectly detected and peculiar stars, such as red and brown dwarfs with strong IR-radiation. Very faint possible transient signals have been tentatively identified in the last years which seem to be originated around 5 peculiar objects. However these observations need to be confirmed using the recently developed multichannel spectrometer (SPECTRA-1).

The 22 GHz MASER line was also detected for the first time in a comet (Hyakutake C/1996) and confirmed in Comet C/2002 V1-NEAT. Both comets were very close to the Sun (0.23 A.U. and 0.11 A.U. respectively) and the MASER excitation may have been originated by the strong coronal activity during the transit of the comets at the perihelion.

Recently the Cassini spacecraft has identified in the southern hemisphere of the Saturnian satellite Enceladus jets of ice particles carried by water vapour probably originated from liquid water sources below the satellite’s surface. Thus observations were carried out at Medicina in collaboration with the JIVE Institute (NL) and the detection of the MASER emission was possible in the region including some icy satellites and the rings of the Saturnian system. The new discovery would be very important to determine if a pumping model for the water molecules based on the magneto-hydro-dynamic interaction of the satellite with the Saturnian magnetosphere could be taken into account.

For details on ITASEL please visit the web site: http://itasel.med.ira.inaf.it/itasel/index.htm .

SETI:

Involved IRA Scientists, Technicians and Collaborators:: S. Montebugnoli, J. Monari, M. Poloni, A. Orlati, G.Maccaferri, A. Maccaferri, S. Mariotti, A. Scalambra, A. Cattani, C. Cosmovici (IFSI-INAF), S. Pluchino, M. Bartolini.

The possibility that other life forms exist in our Universe seems to increase every day. Around 100 extra-solar planets have already been discovered, and the cosmos seems to contain plenty of the same chemical elements that form our body cells.

However, the probability of meeting other life forms, or receiving radio signals from them, is much lower, because of the enormous distances that lay between us and the stars, and because of the differences that can exist between us and an extra-terrestrial civilisation: cultural differences, technological gaps, etc..

As a consequence, the Italian scientific community is not in the economical situation to allow (even for brief time periods) full-time or dedicated observations - and expensive instrumentation - to a program that could not lead to a tangible result.

Fortunately, it is possible to perform this kind of investigation, the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI), by connecting it to other traditional radio-astronomical research, without incresing the costs. This goal is being achieved using the SerendipIV system: it searches for extra-terrestrial radio signals working in parallel with the running astronomical observations, without interfering with them. This device looks for artificial signals at the frequency and coordinates defined by the astronomer who is in charge of the antenna for his/her own research. In this way, it is possible to perform a free SETI research 24 hours a day, every day.

So, the SETI-Italia program is a "zero-cost" activity, and in addition it is very useful tool for other astronomy projects because the SerendipIV is a very effective device for monitoring man-made radio interferences, which is an increasing problem that is undermining the use of radiotelescopes. The SETI program, then, is pure research exclusively aimed at finding certain evidence about the existence of other intelligent beings in the universe. It has nothing to do with the possibility to start "interstellar chats" that, for the moment, remain only an intriguing subject for science fiction.

For more information please visit the site SETI Italia at http://www.seti-italia.cnr.it.