Parkes observations for project PX600 semester 2020APRS_43

The Galactic Center (GC) is a key target for the radio component of Breakthrough Listen (BL) program. Offering the largest amount of stars in any given direction in the sky, the GC is widely cited as a location believed to harbour advanced civilizations, and it is also the most energetic region in the Milky Way. We aim to conduct BL-GC Survey with Parkes radio telescope for around 350 hours. We will cover the frequency range from 700 MHz to 4 GHz, utilizing the newly installed ultra-wideband receiver. Our team has already leveraged both standard and bespoke tools to construct a flexible software stack to search data for signals of interest. We will look for signals from extraterrestrial intelligence (ETI) by searching for both simple narrow-band signals and complex modulated signals. Along with that, as an ancillary science, we will also search for accelerated pulsars — likely orbiting a supermassive black hole at the centre of the Milky Way Galaxy. Data products produced during this program will also be publically available to engage larger pulsar community

银心（Galactic Center, GC）是“突破聆听”（Breakthrough Listen, BL）项目射电观测分支的核心观测目标。作为天空中单一方向内恒星数量最多的天区，银心被广泛认为是可能存在高等外星文明的区域，同时也是银河系中能量活动最为剧烈的区域。本项目计划利用帕克斯射电望远镜开展时长约350小时的BL-GC巡天观测。本次观测将覆盖700兆赫至4吉赫的频段范围，并将使用新安装的超宽带接收机。我们的团队已结合标准化工具与定制化工具，搭建了一套灵活的软件栈，用于从观测数据中筛选目标信号。我们将通过搜寻两类信号来寻找地外智慧文明（extraterrestrial intelligence, ETI）存在的迹象：一类是简单的窄带信号，另一类是复杂的调制信号。除此之外，作为本项目的辅助科学目标，我们还将搜寻加速运动的脉冲星——这类脉冲星大概率环绕银河系中心的超大质量黑洞运行。本项目产生的所有数据产品也将向公众开放，以服务于更广泛的脉冲星研究社群。