SETI Dictionary

Allen Telescope Array (ATA): A joint effort by the SETI Institute and the Radio Astronomy Laboratory (RAL) to construct a radio interferometer dedicated to the astronomical observations and simultaneous search for extra-terrestrial life.

amateur astronomy: A subset of astronomy; a hobby whose participants enjoy studying celestial objects.

Arecibo message: A radio message that was beamed into space at a ceremony to mark the remodeling of the Arecibo radio telescope.

astrophotography: A specialized type of photography that entails making photographs of astronomical objects.

BETA (Billion-channel Extra-Terrestrial Assay): The next phase of META which used rapid and automatic re-observation of candidate signals.

Big Ear: A radio telescope at Ohio Wesleyan University that is part of the SETI project.

catadioptric telescope: A telescope that uses both a combination of mirrors and lenses, usually with a glass corrector plate at the front.

Deep Space Network (DSN): An international network of communication facilities that supports interplanetary spacecraft missions, and radio and radar astronomy observations for the exploration of the solar system and the universe.

Drake Equation: An equation devised by Dr. Frank Drake that was an attempt to estimate the number of extraterrestrial civilizations in our galaxy that could come in contact with Earth.