SAINT is a new optical SETI observatory designed to search large areas of the sky continuously for laser signals — and, when a candidate is detected, rapidly focus on its source to capture as much information as possible
A signal could arrive from virtually any direction in the sky. A telescope watching one star at a time may simply be looking somewhere else.
A signal could reach Earth tonight, next month or years from now. There may be no opportunity to ask the sender to transmit again.
A tightly focused laser beam can cross Earth quickly. If the signal contains encoded information, high temporal resolution is needed to record its structure.
Laser communication is one plausible way an advanced civilization could transmit large amounts of information across interstellar distances. A powerful, tightly directed optical beam can concentrate energy toward its intended receiver while supporting extremely high data rates.
If such a beam crosses Earth, its artificial nature may be revealed not only by its brightness or wavelength, but by its temporal structure — the pattern in which information is encoded.
SAINT combines wide-field monitoring with rapid follow-up.
12 telescopes watch different parts of the sky. Software processes the data in real time.
A candidate optical signal is identified and characterized by our pipeline.
The array reacts within seconds, rapidly turning toward the candidate source.
All telescopes focus on the signal. We record at up to 1,684 frames per second, with photometric, spectral and polarization data.
SAINT consists of 12 independently mounted 30 cm telescopes. It is designed for wide-field monitoring, rapid repointing and high-speed follow-up observations.
A single SAINT observatory monitors a large part of the sky. To achieve continuous coverage of the entire sky, we plan to build a network of observatories at geographically separated sites.
The same capabilities that make SAINT suitable for optical SETI also open a largely unexplored region of time-domain astronomy.
Purchase and testing of a telescope detector (high speed sCMOS camera).
Determine the actual characteristics of the detector.
Create the final telescope design based on the test results.
Interested in institutional partnership or significant support? Let's talk.
The SAINT instrument concept was developed by an international team and published in the peer-reviewed journal Photonics in 2023.
