From distance(s) to civilization(s): (Extra)terrestrial intelligence(s) of (post-) Soviet Armenian astronomy

Abstract

This article draws on post-positivist conceptualizations of distance in human geography to look at how Byurakan Astrophysical Observatory (BAO) astronomers identified with an ancient scientific-cultural legacy and how a corresponding imaginary bonded this legacy, BAO, and extraterrestrial intelligence. As part of the growing prospect of reaching out to other civilizations through radio waves in the 1960s, radio astronomers from Russian research institutes initiated the theoretical and empirical study of extraterrestrial civilizations and engaged with their Armenian counterparts. In so doing, they set a framework for contact through electromagnetic waves with extraterrestrial civilizations. Thereby, the epistemological constraints and affordances of astronomical distance gave rise to an (extra)terrestrial narrative of development. Armenian natural scientists responded positively to the study of extraterrestrial civilizations, though their engagement with this field remained passive. The scientific imaginary of extraterrestrial civilizations, however, contained pillars for the study of Armenian ancient astronomical past. As a result, when Soviet radio astronomy legitimized the study of extraterrestrial civilizations, it also legitimized the study of distant civilizations situated in the perceived historical past of the Armenian astronomical intelligentsia. In the rediscovery of ancient Armenia as an astronomical civilization by BAO (archeo)astronomers, national identity and historical continuity were at stake. Today, this imaginary continues.