The signal to noise ratio is such that nobody on a nearby stellar system

Space/Science » in reply to re: IMHO, the only reasonable chance that SETI has is with visible light, not radio waves.

David F Mayer — 7/5/2009 3:13:52 AM (archived)

could possibly detect Earth's current radio chatter. Only a directed transmission has a snowball's chance in Hell of being detected. Hoping to detect a non-directional signal is absurd.

Each and every star puts out significant radio radiation. Individually, they don't put out much each, but the overall background is astoundingly high compared to any isotropic man-made signal at interstellar distance.

The whole thread (10 posts)

The Future of SETI - Socrates II - 7/1/2009 2:10:01 PM
- IMHO, the only reasonable chance that SETI has is with visible light, not radio waves. - David F Mayer - 7/1/2009 10:00:37 PM
  - re: IMHO, the only reasonable chance that SETI has is with visible light, not radio waves. - Robert Clark - 7/4/2009 11:57:50 AM
    - The signal to noise ratio is such that nobody on a nearby stellar system - David F Mayer - 7/5/2009 3:13:52 AM
    - Radio SETI needs to be directed to work best, too - Socrates II - 7/4/2009 3:02:09 PM
  - What we need is a planet imager, either IR or visible wavelengths - mip - 7/1/2009 11:03:43 PM
    - And do not assume all ETI come from or live on planets - Socrates II - 7/2/2009 1:40:26 PM
      - Someone else out there has discovered fire - mip - 7/3/2009 11:03:53 PM
        
        Fermi astrosat finds 16 new pulsars by their gamma rays alone - Socrates II - 7/6/2009 6:40:43 AM
        
        Cosmic Call 1999 - Socrates II - 7/12/2009 3:04:34 PM

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