SETI League Photo Gallery

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The third international Optical SETI Conference (OSETI III) was held in San Jose CA, in conjunction with the SPIE Photonics West conference. Seen here is part of the assembled OSETI community, crowded into a rather small meeting room. SETI League photo

Prof. N. Chandra Wickramasinghe of Cardiff University presented the keynote paper "Unity of cosmic life and the inevitability of evolved life forms," which he co-authored with his mentor Sir Fred Hoyle. SETI League photo

Brig Klyce of Acorn Enterprises, LLC followed up on the keynote presentation with his paper "Panspermia asks new questions." SETI League photo

Like its two predecessors, OSETI III was organized and chaired by Dr. Stuart Kingsley of the Columbus Optical SETI Observatory. SETI League photo

Andy Boden of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory reported on the NASA Origins program. SETI League photo

Vienna University of Technology student Oswald Wallner reported on nulling interferometry for the spectroscopic investigation of exoplanets. SETI League photo

Prof. Barrie Jones, chairman of the Department of Astronomy at Open University in the UK, discussed the possibility of finding terrestrial planets in stable orbits within their stars' habitable zones. SETI League photo

Session chairman Prof. Paul Horowitz had the honor of introducing our distinguished guest, nobel laureate Dr. Charles Townes, the father of Optical SETI. SETI League photo

Charles H. Townes authored the first scientific paper proposing interstallar communication via lasers, in 1961. Thus, this conference marked the fortieth anniversary of OSETI. Prof. Townes' paper was titled "Reflections on forty years of optical SETI." SETI League photo

Stuart Kingsley and outgoing SPIE president Don O'Shea (a former student of Townes') made a surprise presentation to Prof. Townes, honoring his pioneering OSETI efforts. The award was jointly sponsored by SPIE, the Planetary Society, Columbus Optical SETI Observatory, The SETI League, and the SETI Institute. SETI League photo

Optical SETI pioneer Dr. Stuart Kingsley is the 2000 recipient of the Giordano Bruno Memorial Award, The SETI League's highest honor. It took nearly a year for Dr. Kingsley's trophy to catch up with him. It was finally presented on January 22, 2001 by SETI League executive director Dr. H. Paul Shuch at the OSETI III conference in San Jose CA. SETI League photo

The Planetary Society held aI press conference at OSETI III, to announce their new optical all-sky survey. Standing: Dr. Louis Friedman, executive director of the Planetary Society. Seated (left to right): Prof. Paul Horowitz, Dan Werthimer, Prof. Charles Townes, Dr. Stuart Kingsley. SETI League photo

Dan Werthimer of the Space Systems Lab, University of California, Berkeley, reported on the Berkeley radio and optical SETI programs: SETI@home, SERENDIP, and SEVENDIP. SETI League photo

Dr. H. Paul Shuch, SETI League executive director, was unable to take a photo of himself presenting "Optical SETI comes of age." However, this is his opening slide, and his complete paper appears here. SETI League photo

Monte Ross of the Laser Space Signal Observatory, St. Louis MO, reported on the PhotonStar project, a planned amateur optical SETI project modeled after The SETI League's Project Argus radio search. SETI League photo

Dr. Corbin Covault of the University of Chicago described how the STACCE experiment, which detects gamma ray pulses, might be used for optical SETI. SETI League photo

Dr. Louis Friedman, executive director of the Planetary Society, discussed his organization's involvement in a variety of SETI experiments, including sponsorship of various OSETI efforts. SETI League photo

Robert Bradbury of Aeivos Corp. provided a retrospective of Dyson shells, and speculated on how optical observatories might detect such massive engineering efforts by the apparent gradual dimming of their stars. SETI League photo

Richard Hoover, current President of SPIE, is with the NASA Marshall Space Flight Center. He reported on efforts of the NASA Astrobiology Institute to search for micro-organisms on Earth and in space. SETI League photo

Stanford University's Prof. Ron Bracewell is a longtime SETI supporter. His talk dealt with the detection of extrasolar planets by infrared nulling interferometry. SETI League photo

Art Fricke, a SETI League member and graduate student at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, reported on his doctoral research: philosophical perspectives on SETI. SETI League photo

Dr. Jill Tarter holds the Bernard M. Oliver Chair in SETI at the SETI Institute. She reported on their SETI 2020 roadmap, and future observing plans. SETI League photo

Prof. Allen Tough, a SETI League regional coordinator, directs the Invitation to ETI group and manages its website. He discussed various strategies for widening the search. SETI League photo

Graduate student Mark Ciotola of San Francisco State University (left) and Prof. Charles Rubin of Duquesne University both presented their takes on the L factor in the Drake equation. SETI League photos

Harvard University's Prof. Paul Horowitz updated us on his various microwave and optical SETI efforts. SETI League photo

Steven Kilston of Ball Aerospace Corp. reported on his company's design concept for the Next Generation Space Telescope (NGST), and optical SETI strategies. SETI League photo

Dr. Ragbir Bhathal from the University of Western Sydney presented details of the OZ OSETI project in Australia. SETI League photo

Harvard University graduate student Andrew Howard told of his institution's planned optical all-sky survey, in the provocative paper "Is there RFI in optical SETI?" SETI League photo

Eamonn Ansbro of the Royal Astronomical Society described his new OSETI observatory in Ireland, and his plans to use it in testing the somewhat controversial Dutton's Astronautical Theory. SETI League photo

Graduate student Shelly Wright of the University of California, Santa Cruz, presented design details of a new optical SETI detector. SETI League photo

Nine members of Allen Tough's Invitation to ETI committee met for dinner and a lively discussion the second day of the OSETI conference. Standing (left to right): Chandra Wickramasinghe, Allen Tough, Stuart Kingsley, H. Paul Shuch, Scot Stride. Seated (left to right): Ragbir Bhathal, Gerald Nordley, Brian McConnell, Robert Bradbury. SETI League photo

Hamid Hemmati of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory gave us an overview of laser communication research at NASA/JPL. SETI League photo

SETI League member Scot Stride, also of JPL, discussed instrument technologies for the detection of extraterrestrial interstellar robotic probes. SETI League photo

Pacific Telephone Design's Brian McConell, who has a newly published SETI book, introduced us to concepts in algorithmic communication with extraterrestrial intelligence (ACETI). SETI League photo

The OSETI III conference concluded with a panel discussion on the societal impact of contact, featuring (left to right) Paul Horowitz, Art Fricke, Ragbir Bhathal, Allen Tough, H. Paul Shuch, Stuart Kingsley, and moderator Douglas Vakoch. Scot Stride photo

Click here for lots more pictures.

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