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Optical SETI - At Last!

Optical SETI - At Last!
Optical SETI - At Last! Every day, it seems our vision of the Milky Way is enhanced, our knowledge of it expanded. With optical SETI, the search for laser signals from other stars, we have a fresh strategy for attacking the cosmic question: are we alone in this vast place? This view of Ara OB1, a star-forming region deep in the southern sky, was taken in April 1999 by the European Southern Observatory's 2.2-meter telescope in La Silla, Chile. This complex of bright and dark nebulae is located about 4,000 light-years from Earth in the constellation Ara (the Altar). European Southern Observatory