Optical SETI: A Spectroscopic Search for Laser Emission from Nearby Stars

Abstract

We have searched for nonastrophysical emission lines in the optical spectra of 577 nearby F, G, K, and M main-sequence stars. Emission lines of astrophysical origin would also have been detected, such as from a time--variable chromosphere or infalling comets. We examined ~20 spectra per star obtained during four years with the Keck/HIRES spectrometer at a resolution of 5 km/s, with a detection threshold 3% of the continuum flux level. We searched each spectrum from 4000-5000 angstroms for emission lines having widths too narrow to be natural from the host star, as well as for lines broadened by astrophysical mechanisms. We would have detected lasers that emit a power, P>60 kW, for a typical beam width of ~0.01 arcsec (diffraction-limit from a 10-m aperture) if directed toward Earth from the star. No lines consisstent with laser emission were found.