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It's one of history's oldest questions: Are we alone in the universe? From "little green men" on Mars to alleged microscopic "fossilized bacteria" in meteorites, humans have always been eager to speculate about the existence of cosmic brethren.
Though finding E.T. is like looking for a needle in a haystack, thousands of people are participating in SETI, the Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence. Since its first conference in 1961, SETI has evolved into a worldwide network of scientists, educators and support staff led by the famous astronomer and astrophysicist Dr. Frank Drake. According to its official website, its mission "is to explore, understand and explain the origin, nature and prevalence of life in the universe" by searching for cosmic radio signals.
In 1961, Dr. Frank Drake unveiled an equation to estimate the number of technological civilizations that may exist in our galaxy. Now known as the Drake Equation, it identifies various factors that could lead to the development of civilization.
N=R*׃p×ne׃l׃i׃c×L
N = The number of civilizations in the Milky Way Galaxy whose electromagnetic emissions are detectable; R* = The rate of formation of stars suitable for the development of intelligent life; ƒp = The fraction of those stars with planetary systems; ne = The number of planets, per solar system, with an environment suitable for life; ƒl = The fraction of suitable planets on which life actually appears; ƒi = The fraction of life-bearing planets on which intelligent life emerges; ƒc = The fraction of civilizations that develop a technology that releases detectable signs of their existence into space; L = The length of time such civilizations release detectable signals into space.
(© SETI Institute)
NAYUTA Telescope
NAYUTA means "an extremely large number" in Sanskrit. Astronomers chose the name because they expect the telescope to look deep into the universe.
(Courtesy of the Yomiuri Shimbun)
The NAYUTA telescope has two claims to fame. At 2 meters (78 inches), it is the largest telescope in Japan and the largest in the world open to the public.
"Our main purpose is to invite visitors to observe the beauty of the stars," says Noritaka Tokimasa, chief researcher at Nishi-Harima Astronomical Observatory (NHAO). "We enable ordinary citizens to glimpse wonders they just couldn't view with their home equipment. Even the viewfinder is designed for the public: It can be adjusted from 90 to 150cm (3 to 5 feet), so people of any height or age can enjoy a great view of the stars."
NHAO initially started its public OSETI services in November 2005. In April 2007, NHAO began reaching out to the public even more through a project called @site, which promotes communication between amateurs and professionals. It's also a component of NHAO's involvement in SETI.
Laser signal from ETI (conceptual drawing)
Laser signals received from extraterrestrial intelligence? SETI researchers believe these red waveforms are what communications from space may look like.
(Courtesy of NHAO)
Shin-ya Narusawa, a chief researcher at NHAO, and members of the @site program are searching for extraterrestrial life across the universe. Narusawa offers Optical SETI (OSETI) to pursue this lofty goal. He explains that light focused through a grating spectroscope will split into seven colors. "We analyze visible light from a star with a spectroscope. If a spectrum of a certain wavelength is highlighted, indicating light from a laser, we take it to mean there's a message in there."
NHAO's OSETI project targets three stars, Tau Boötes, 51 Pegasi and 55 Cancri, all about 40 to 50 light-years from Earth, and all of which Narusawa hypothesizes may have planets in their systems on which organic life could exist. Members of the public perform tasks such as positioning the NAYUTA telescope and photographing spectra of the stars.
The priorities of OSETI at NHAO are remarkably simple. First and foremost, it's designed to find extraterrestrial intelligence. Second, Narusawa wants to inspire the public, especially younger people, to think about Earth in a universal context. "We want people to come here and see the Earth from an extraterrestrial viewpoint. I want them to think about what life is and how precious it is. This is what @site is all about."
Many questions arise when we look up into the night sky. It's like seeing that picture of the Earth from space again for the first time: The more we learn, the less we seem to know.
But this contradiction won't stop us from hunting for new discoveries in space. Inventions such as the telescope have allowed us to move from one riddle to the next, our curiosity fueling every new step outward through the universe. Creating technology that expands our imagination and investigatory abilities is a human constant, and we'll always use this capacity to better understand the Earth and its place in the universe.
(Background image is not photographed with Fieldscope.)
The moon photographed with a Nikon Fieldscope EDIII A with a 40X Wide DS Fieldscope Eyepiece and Nikon COOLPIX digital camera.
With Nikon's Digiscoping System, stargazers can connect a digital camera to the Fieldscope's eyepiece with an adapter. Pictured here is a super-telephoto digital image with a combined focal distance of approx. 1,500mm (4.95 feet) (for 35mm film conversion).
Nikon started developing telescopes soon after its foundation in 1917. Today, we continue this rich tradition at Japan's Subaru Observatory at Mauna Kea in Hawaii, where two important, high-precision Nikon devices are in use.
We've also been a friend to amateur astronomers for many years. You might not know it, but our Fieldscopes, so famous around the world, are ideal for stargazing. Nikon's lineup features models with objective lenses of 50mm, 60mm and 82mm, and magnifications ranging from 20x to 75x. With these you can see details of the moon's surface very clearly.
Nikon's Fieldscopes work differently from astronomical telescopes, which create horizontally and vertically reversed images. Our Fieldscopes' "unreversed" images make it easy for novices to get their first glimpse of the heavens. Setup and operation are also simple: Just mount the Fieldscope on a tripod, bring what you want to observe (the moon, for example) into the viewfinder, and adjust the focus and magnification. An angled viewfinder makes viewing comfortable and natural.
Once you get used to your Nikon Fieldscope, take it out and discover what it can do. During the day, get up close and personal with birds and wildlife. On a clear night, observe the stars in stunning detail. Our Fieldscopes have you covered on the ground and in the skies.
