2023-Jan-13, University of Washington

About

This 1-day workshop will be held January 13th at the UW eScience Institute on the 6th floor of the Physics & Astronomy building, following AAS 241 in Seattle.

With the Vera C. Rubin Observatory less than 2 years from LSST operations, now is the time to begin ramping up preparations for science that will utilize this unique facility. The study of technosignatures has seen a significant increase in activity over the last decade, with projects using nearly every data type available in modern astronomy. The purpose of this workshop is to bring together researchers with backgrounds in SETI and/or LSST, to catalyze ideas that will enable the next generation of technosignature searches.

This is an active in-person working meeting, and we have limited capacity for attendance. (We are currently exploring live-stream options.) If you would like to give a short presentation, please indicate this in your email. All participants will provide a brief introduction slide. Additionally, interested colleagues who are unable to attend will be invited to share a brief (1 page or 1 slide) contribution.

Our working slides for introductions and notes

Goals

  1. Bring together SETI researchers, LSST experts, and interested members of the community to catalyze technosignature projects with Rubin.
  2. Find common themes for projects and collaborations, and especially identify challenges to address in the next 2 years.
  3. Create a short white paper reporting the activities and discussions from the day, with the goal of having additional workshops over the next decade to advance technosignature studies with LSST.

Discussion Topics

There are a great many ways that technosignature work can be advanced by surveys like LSST. In the afternoon we will split into 4-5 small groups for focused discussions. Here is a partial list of topics for breakout groups to consider:

  • Outliers and anomaly classification
  • Search strategies and tools (brokers, science platforms, and APIs, oh my!)
  • Moving objects and interstellar asteroids
  • Rubin / LSST compared with traditional radio surveys
  • Other surveys to utilize (before, during, after)
  • The need for simultaneous observing?
  • Funding opportunities and synergies

Schedule

Coffee & Welcome (930AM)

A few establishing talks (10AM - Noon) (Video)

Lunch (12-1PM, provided)

Breakout Discussion Groups (1-4PM)

Wrap-up (4-5PM)

Dinner (6-8PM, Ba Bar)

Support

This workshop was made possible by the generous support of the Breakthrough Listen initiative, which is managed by the Breakthrough Initiatives, and sponsored by the Breakthrough Prize Foundation. The workshop was hosted by the eScience Institute, with organizational support from the DiRAC Institute.