Parkes observations for project PX600 semester 2020APRS_51

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）项目射电波段观测的核心目标。作为天空中任意观测方向上恒星总数最多的天区，银心被广泛认为是可能孕育先进文明的区域，同时也是银河系内能量活动最为剧烈的区域。我们计划利用帕克斯射电望远镜（Parkes radio telescope）开展BL-GC巡天计划，总观测时长约350小时。本次巡天将覆盖700 MHz至4 GHz的频率范围，并将使用新安装的超宽带接收机（ultra-wideband receiver）。我们团队已整合标准工具与定制化工具，搭建了灵活的软件栈以在观测数据中搜寻目标信号。我们将通过搜索两类信号来搜寻地外智慧文明（extraterrestrial intelligence, ETI）：简单窄带信号与复杂调制信号。此外作为配套科学研究，我们还将搜寻加速运动的脉冲星——这类脉冲星大概率围绕银河系中心的超大质量黑洞（supermassive black hole）运行。本项目产生的所有数据产品也将面向公众开放，以惠及更广泛的脉冲星研究社群。