What is "serendip"

SERENDIP (Search for Extraterrestrial Radio Emissions from Nearby Developed Intelligent Populations) is a Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence (SETI) program originated at the University of California, Berkeley.

SERENDIP takes advantage of ongoing "mainstream" radio telescope observations as a "piggy-back" or " commensal" program. Rather than having its own observation program, SERENDIP analyzes deep space radio telescope data that it obtains while other astronomers are using the telescope.