Extended Breakthrough Listen sample

These stars have estimated distances as listed in the extensions of the Gaia DR2 catalogue. Enlarging the sample from 1327 to 288315 stellar objects permits us to achieve substantially better Continuous Waveform Transmitter Rate Figures of Merit (CWTFM) than any previous analysis, and allows us to place the tightest limits yet on the prevalence of nearby high-duty-cycle extraterrestrial transmitters.

The results suggest <~0.0660(+0.0004,-0.0003)% of stellar systems within 50 pc host such transmitters (assuming an EIRP>~10^13^W) and <~0.039(+0.004,-0.008)% within 200pc (assuming an EIRP>~2.5*10^14^W). We further extend our analysis to much greater distances, though we caution that the detection of narrow-band signals beyond a few hundred pc may be affected by interstellar scintillation. The extended sample also permits us to place new constraints on the prevalence of extraterrestrial transmitters by stellar type and spectral class.