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4273-09 Stellar Transmitter by Robert A. Metzger
Abstract This paper explores the possibilities of OSETI signals being
generated by the manipulation of a star's optical output through the use of a
membrane that possesses variable optical characteristics (transparent or
reflective). An example will be shown of a circular membrane structure
with a diameter of 3 million km placed in a 30 million km orbit around a typical
Sol-like star. In such an orbit, if the membrane were placed in its reflective
mode, to a distant observer, the star would appear to vanish for a period of 9
hours as the membrane passed between the observer and the star. During
this 9-hour transit the membrane's optical state can be toggled from transparent
to reflective modes, thereby transmitting information. Such a system would
be limited to data rates of approximately 1 bit/sec owing to travel time
differences between signals propagating from the center of the membrane as
compared to those from the edge of the membrane (a 5-light second
distance). But even at this data rate, 32,000 bits of information would be
transmitted during the 9-hour transit. Including the effects of
interstellar absorption, such a transmitter would deliver 2 x 106
photons/sec into a 5 m receiver located 1000 LY away, and 20 photons/sec at a
distance of 100,000 LY, making this approach suitable for galactic-spanning
transmissions. Keywords OSETI, Solar Transmitter, Sun.
Author Biography Robert Metzger received his Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering at UCLA in 1983. He has worked at the Hughes Research Laboratories and the Georgia Institute of Technology in the development of thin film technologies for high speed electronic devices. Currently President of Quad W Associates his activities are divided between writing (both non-fiction and fiction - he recently completed a SF novel entitled Picoverse) and a diverse area of research interests that include semiconductor devices, carbon sequestering techniques to mitigate the effects of global warming, and laser-based space propulsion systems.
Principal Author Affiliation Quad W Associates
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