California wildfire threatens SETI telescope

Forest fire threatens SETI telescope

The SETI Institute said on Friday, September 10, 2021 that the Allen Telescope Array was threatened by the Great Dixie Fire in California. This radio telescope is the first to be designed specifically for Extraterrestrial Intelligence Research (SETI). On Friday afternoon, the fire broke out about 19 km south of the Array. Scientists and engineers normally on site were evacuated as a precaution in response to an order from the Shasta County Sheriff’s Office. Inciweb said on Saturday morning (September 11) that this fire was 59% under control.

According to InciWeb, the Dixie Fire now covers just under a million acres, an area larger than the state of Rhode Island. It ranks as the second largest fire in California history, just below the resort fires in August of last year.

The SETI institute declared:

According to Alex Pollak, director of scientific and technical operations at Array, the fire’s slow progression northward prompted the need for an evacuation. Anticipating the possibility that it could reach the antennas, observatory staff contacted the U.S. Forest Service fire department to prepare the site against possible damage. Two teams from the Forest Service, a total of ten people, removed the brush near the antennas. Trees in the area have been pruned of all branches less than 10 feet [about 2 meters] above the earth.

This is not the first time that the Allen Telescope Array has been threatened by fire. In the summer of 2014, the so-called Eiler fire reached State Highway 89, about two miles from the antennas. The SETI institute declared:

The Circle K family restaurant, Hat Creek’s only public restaurant, came to an end during this conflagration.

The ever-expanding Dixie Fire is now only a few miles south of the Hat Creek Radio Observatory and the SETI Institute’s Allen Radio Network. https://t.co/53UNWDD2il

– Sky Watcher Anthony Cook (@ AnthonyJCook2) September 10, 2021

Telescopes and forest fires

The SETI institute explained:

It is unfortunate that environments suitable for radio telescopes – including the Allen Telescope Array – are also frequently places where wildfires are commonplace. Since microwaves, the type of radio signals the Array looks for, are not impeded by the Earth’s atmosphere, there is no reason to place such instruments on top of mountains, as is done. for optical telescopes.

But like their mirror and lens cousins, radio telescopes are typically located in rural areas. The signals sought by the Allen Array are assumed to be extremely weak, and radio silence is a necessity. The Hat Creek Radio Observatory, where the network is located, was established in 1959 and is now managed by the SETI Institute. It was deliberately located in a sparsely populated area. The surrounding landscape consists of pastures and forest land. Most of the time there are more livestock near the site than there are people.

Bottom line: Wildfire threatens the Allen Telescope Array in California. This telescope was built specifically for SETI (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence). Scientists and engineers were evacuated from the site. The blaze was 12 miles (19 km) away on Friday.

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