Which Missions and Observatories can Detect Technosignatures?

The search for technosignatures has always taken a back seat in the broad search for extraterrestrial life forms. Biosignatures, such as methane in an exoplanet’s atmosphere, have long been front and center. But while we are searching for signs of biology, signs of technology might be hiding in plain sight. According to a new report from the members of the TechnoClimes conference, humanity could potentially find signs of technology by simply using data that will already be collected for other purposes. To prove their point, they came up with a list of possible technosignatures and cross-referenced them with a list of observatories that could potentially find them. The result is a framework of how to best search for technosignatures and a plethora of references for those seeking them out.

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Next Generation Telescopes Could Search for Intelligent Civilizations Directly

An artist's illustration of the LUVOIR-A telescope concept. There are two conceptual designs for LUVOIR, one with an 8 meter mirror and one with a 15 meter mirror. Image Credit: NASA

We’re still in the early days of searching for life elsewhere. The Perseverance rover is on its way to a paleo-delta on Mars to look for fossilized signs of ancient bacterial life. SETI’s been watching the sky with radio dishes, listening for signals from distant worlds. Our telescopes are beginning to scan the atmospheres of distant exoplanets for biosignatures.

Soon we’ll take another step forward in the search when new, powerful telescopes begin to search not just for life but for other civilizations.

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