Breakthrough Listen's Automated Commensal Technosignature Survey with MeerKAT

Daniel J. Czech; David H. E. MacMahon; Ian Heywood; Chenoa D. Tremblay; Matt Lebofsky; Kevin Lacker; Cherry Ng; Dave Horn; Sarah Buchner; Brian Lacki; Alex Andersson; Joe S. Bright; Steve Croft; Dave R. DeBoer; Jamie Drew; Vishal Gajjar; Peter Ma; Alex W. Pollak; Danny Price; Mark Ruzindana; Andrew P. V. Siemion; S. Pete Worden; Fernando Camilo

arXiv · 2607.23651

Breakthrough Listen's Automated Commensal Technosignature Survey with MeerKAT

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Abstract

The search for extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI) is an ongoing effort to detect technosignatures, evidence of technologically capable life beyond Earth. Conducting a comprehensive SETI programme requires a large amount of telescope time, which must be balanced with the science goals of a given observatory. Fortunately, many modern radio telescopes offer commensal access to the data they produce, allowing multiple scientific programmes to operate in parallel. The MeerKAT radio telescope in South Africa provides commensal access to a range of components, from each antenna's digitiser to the main channeliser (F-engine), via multicast Ethernet groups. Here, we describe the Breakthrough Listen user-supplied equipment (BLUSE) system at MeerKAT, which leverages multicast Ethernet to conduct an autonomous commensal technosignature survey, processing the full available bandwidth from all antennas. Its primary mode of operation is to upchannelise the incoming F-engine data to ~1Hz resolution, synthesize coherent beams on objects of interest, and search the resultant data for technosignatures. Since 2022, BLUSE has autonomously processed data from coherent beams synthesized on more than 1.2 million individual pointings, including repeat visits. BLUSE demonstrates how commensal technosignature surveys on radio telescope arrays offer a rapid and cost-effective way to increase the rate at which technosignature surveys can be conducted. This article describes the architecture of BLUSE, provides experimental evidence validating its features and performance, and quantifies its observing progress over the past few years. We also discuss the technical evolution of BLUSE, examine challenges faced and addressed, and consider avenues for future research and development.

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Daniel J. Czech, David H. E. MacMahon, Ian Heywood, Chenoa D. Tremblay, Matt Lebofsky, Kevin Lacker, Cherry Ng, Dave Horn, Sarah Buchner, Brian Lacki, Alex Andersson, Joe S. Bright, Steve Croft, Dave R. DeBoer, Jamie Drew, Vishal Gajjar, Peter Ma, Alex W. Pollak, Danny Price, Mark Ruzindana, Andrew P. V. Siemion, S. Pete Worden, Fernando Camilo. 2026-07-26. Breakthrough Listen's Automated Commensal Technosignature Survey with MeerKAT. https://arxiv.org/abs/2607.23651

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