Astronomy on Tap Corvallis: A Sign in Space: A Global Simulation of First Contact

Join us on Thursday September 17th at 7pm for a talk from Victoria “Cat” Catlett! Their talk is titled:

A Sign in Space: A Global Simulation of First Contact

For more than 60 years, GBO has provided astronomers with a unique window into the radio universe, enabling discoveries ranging from detections of molecules in interstellar space to evidence of gravitational waves in pulsar timing. This talk will first introduce GBO’s current flagship telescope, the GBT, emphasizing its role in the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI). The primary discussion will then focus on the 2023 “A Sign in Space” performance, wherein the ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter transmitted an “alien” message designed by GBO artist-in-residence Daniela de Paulis. The GBT and other radio observatories detected this transmission, and the public decoded it over the course the next year under the guidance of Cat and other project scientists.

About Cat

Victoria “Cat” Catlett earned a double-B.S. in Physics and Mathematics from The University of Texas at Dallas (UTD) in 2022. They are now a second-year Physics graduate student at OSU working with Dr. Jeffrey Hazboun, and their research is supported by the Department of Energy Computational Science Graduate Fellowship (DOE CSGF). This talk will concern Cat’s former employment as a software engineer for the Green Bank Observatory (GBO), where they developed and maintained the “monitor and control systems” of the 100-meter Green Bank Telescope (GBT).