Vishal Gajjar is an astronomer at the seti-institute and lead author of the 2026 Astrophysical Journal paper on stellar-plasma-scattering of radio technosignatures (see src-plasma-technosignature-scattering-2026). His work demonstrates that stellar wind plasma turbulence and coronal mass ejections near a transmitting planet can broaden narrowband radio signals before they exit the home system, causing them to evade standard seti detection pipelines. He argues this effect may partly explain the radio silence seen in technosignatures surveys.
BLIPSS (2025)
Gajjar is also the advisor on BLIPSS — the Cornell/SETI Institute/Breakthrough Listen 4–8 GHz Galactic Center search for periodic spectral signals led by his graduate student akshay-suresh (src-seti-galactic-center-search-2025-07). Gajjar argues that pulse trains are more energy-efficient for interstellar communication than continuous emission, motivating the new signal class.
Sardinia high-frequency survey (2025)
Gajjar is a co-author on the Sardinia Radio Telescope high-frequency (6/18 GHz) technosignature survey of the Galactic Center and 72 TESS targets — the first SETI search at 18 GHz, returning a null result (src-sardinia-technosignature-search-2026-05).
Related Pages
- src-plasma-technosignature-scattering-2026
- src-seti-galactic-center-search-2025-07
- src-sardinia-technosignature-search-2026-05
- sardinia-radio-telescope
- seti-institute · breakthrough-listen
- blipss · akshay-suresh · steve-croft
- stellar-plasma-scattering · periodic-spectral-signal
- technosignatures · seti
- grayce-c-brown