Peter Boyce, Jill Tarter & Peter Backus. View of the American astronomers (from left to right) Peter Boyce, Jill Tarter and Peter Backus. Tarter was chosen as director of the SETI (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence) institute's Project Phoenix. This is SETI's largest project. It involves collecting radio signals from over 1000 sun-like stars. The project aims to see if any of the signals are from intelligent civilisations. Boyce, SETI's software manager, is also working on Project Phoenix. Backus, a member of the American Astronomical Society, is seen here assisting SETI with their their observations. Photographed at Parkes obervatory, Australia, in 1995.