A Narrowband Technosignature Search toward the Hycean Candidate K2-18 b Using the VLA and MeerKAT

Journal article

K2-18 b, a sub-Neptune exoplanet located in the habitable zone of its host star, has emerged as an important target for atmospheric characterization, and assessments of potential habitability. Motivated by recent interpretations of JWST observations suggesting a hydrogen-rich atmosphere consistent with Hycean-world scenarios, we conducted a coordinated, multiepoch search for narrowband radio technosignatures using the Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array equipped with the COSMIC backend and the MeerKAT telescope with the BLUSE backend. Our observations span frequencies from 544 MHz to 9.8 GHz and include multiple epochs that cover at least one full orbital period of the planet. In this work we outline, create, and apply a comprehensive postprocessing framework that incorporates observatory-informed radio frequency interference masking, drift-rate filtering based on the expected dynamics of the K2-18 system, multibeam spatial discrimination, primary and secondary transit filtering (when applicable), and signal-to-noise-ratio-based excision of weak and strong spurious signals. Across all bands and epochs, no signals consistent with an astrophysical or artificial origin were identified at a limit of 1012–1013 W. These nondetections allow us to place upper limits on the presence of persistent, isotropic narrowband transmitters within the K2-18 system, providing the first interferometric technosignature constraints for a Hycean-planet candidate. Our results demonstrate the efficacy of coordinated multiepoch interferometric searches and establish a methodological framework for future technosignature studies of nearby potentially habitable exoplanets.

Authors: Tremblay, CD; Chaudhary, S; Li, MG; Sheikh, SZ; Myburgh, T

• Publication status: Published
• Peer review status: Peer reviewed
• Publisher: IOP Publishing
• Journal: The Astronomical Journal
• Volume: 171
• Issue: 4
• Pages: 210
• Article number: 210
• Publication date: 2026-03-09
• Acceptance date: 2026-02-09
• DOI: 10.3847/1538-3881/ae448e
• EISSN: 1538-3881
• ISSN: 0004-6256
• Language: English
• Keywords: Exoplanets; Search for extraterrestrial intelligence; GPU computing; Astrobiology