A New Set of Ears to Search for Voices in the Sky

I had to get the Moody Blues song title in there somehow, but the title fits the news this past week that the SETI Institute's Allen Telescope Array (ATA)is now on line.

Like slow-growing lotus blossoms, these antennas have methodically erupted on a lava-littered heath 300 miles northeast of San Francisco during the last four years. Eventually, 350 dishes will grace the Hat Creek Observatory site. But the 42 now up and running are equivalent in collecting area to a 40 m single-dish antenna – and that's large enough to start doing some serious science.