The search for life in the universe took a step forward last month with the opening of the Allen Telescope Array(艾伦望远镜阵列) in Hat Creek, California. The telescopes were partly made possible by a gift of twenty-five million dollars from Paul Allen. The total cost of the project is already fifty million dollars. At present, there are 42 radio telescopes working at the Hat Creek observatory. The signals they receive are combined to create what is equal to a single, very large telescope. The telescope will be used to observe objects like exploding stars, black holes and other objects that are predicted but have not yet been observed. Seth Shostak of the SETI Institute says this is the first telescope whose main purpose is to search for signals from intelligent life in space. The SETI Institute is based in Mountain View, California. The organization supports the search for other life forms in the universe. What makes the Allen Telescope Array unusual is that it can collect and study information from a wide area of the sky. In addition, the 42 telescopes can study information about several projects at the same time. That means studies of large areas of the sky can be made faster than ever before. Some officials think the Allen Telescope Array will be completed in three more years. 350 individual radio telescopes are planned. The new abilities of the Allen Telescope Array will make searching for stars similar to the sun much faster. An earlier search by SETI, Project Phoenix, studied about 800 stars to a distance of 240 light years. The project ended in 2004. With the Allen Telescope Array, astronomers hope to gather thousands of times more information in the search for life beyond our planet. 小题1:The main purpose of the Allen Telescope Array is .
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