Technosignatures in Transit (1907.07830v1)

Abstract: Kepler, K2, TESS, and similar time-domain photometric projects, while designed with exoplanet detection in mind, are also well-suited projects for searches for large artificial structures orbiting other stars in the Galaxy. An effort to examine these data sets with an eye towards non-spherical or otherwise anomalous transit events, and a robust follow-up program to understand the stars and occulters that generate them, would enable the first robust upper limits on such megastructures in terms of their sizes, occurrence rates, and orbital properties. Such work also has the ancillary benefit of improving our understanding of stellar photometric variability and orbital and physical parameter estimation of exoplanets from photometric time series, and may lead to the identification of new, unexpected classes of stellar variables and exoplanets. Ultimately, searching for the most unusual and anomalous signatures benefits not only the search for technologies, but also the entire astronomical community by uncovering new mysteries to advance our understanding of the Universe.