Planetary Society Opens World's First Dedicated Optical SETI Telescope

New Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence Begins

Pasadena, CA, —Today, April 11, 2006, The Planetary Society dedicated a new optical telescope at an observatory in Harvard, Massachusetts -- one designed solely to search for light signals from alien civilizations. Read more.

Opening ceremonies for The Planetary Society's Optical SETI Telescope featured Project Director Paul Horowitz of Harvard University; Planetary Society Chairman Neil deGrasse Tyson, director of New York's Hayden Planetarium; and Society Executive Director Louis Friedman.

"With the launch of The Planetary Society's Optical SETI Telescope," said Friedman, "we are proud to be part of a new voyage of discovery with this great Harvard team."

The new telescope is the first dedicated optical SETI telescope in the world. Its 72-inch primary mirror is larger than that of any optical telescope in the U.S. east of the Mississippi River.

Under the direction of Horowitz and his team, the optical SETI telescope will conduct a year round, all-sky survey, scanning the entire swath of our Milky Way galaxy visible in the northern hemisphere.

Full article here:

http://planetary.org/about/press/releases/2006/0411_Planetary_Society_Opens_Worlds_First.html