List of interstellar radio messages
This is a list of interstellar radio messages (IRMs) transmitted from Earth.
Classification of interstellar radio messages
There are twelve realized IRM projects:
- The Morse Message (1962)[1]
- Arecibo message (1974), one transmission to Messier 13
- Cosmic Call 1 (1999), four transmissions to nearby Sun-like stars
- Teen Age Message (2001), six transmissions
- Cosmic Call 2 (2003), five transmissions
- A Message From Earth (2008), one transmission to the Gliese 581 planetary system
- Across the Universe (2008)
- Hello From Earth (HFE, 2009) one transmission to the Gliese 581 planetary system
- Wow! Reply (2012), three transmissions to Hipparcos 34511, Hipparcos 33277 and Hipparcos 43587 in reply to the Wow! signal[2]
- Lone Signal (2013)
- A Simple Response to an Elemental Message[3] (2016)
- Sónar Calling GJ273b (2017)[4][5]
"Across the Universe", "Hello From Earth" and "A Simple Response to an Elemental Message" are not always considered serious. The first two of them were sent to Polaris, which is 431 light years distant from us and whose planetary system, even if it exists, may not be suited for life, because it is a supergiant star, spectral type F7Ib which is only 70 million years old.[6] In addition, both transmission rates were very high, about 128 kbit/s, for such moderate transmitter power (about 18 kW). The main defect of the "Hello From Earth" is an insufficient scientific and technical justification, since no famous SETI scientist made statements with validation of HFE's design. As it follows from : "After the final message was collected on Monday 24 August 2009, messages were exported as a text file and sent to NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California, where they were encoded into binary, packaged and tested before transmission", but nobody explained why he hopes that such encoded and packaged text will be understood and conceived by possible extraterrestrials.
Some use the term Active SETI Project, but Alexander Zaitsev, who was a scientific head of composing and transmissions of Cosmic Call 1999 & 2003, and Teen Age Message 2001, and a scientific consultant of A Message From Earth, emphasized that he considers above IRMs as the METI (Messaging to Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence Projects).
These seven messages have targeted stars between 20 and 69 light-years from the Earth. The exception is the Arecibo message, which targeted globular cluster M13, approximately 24,000 light-years away. The first message to reach its destination will be A Message From Earth, which should reach the Gliese 581 planetary system in Libra in 2029.
On 13 February 2015, scientists (including Geoffrey Marcy, Seth Shostak, Frank Drake, David Grinspoon and David Brin) at a convention of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, discussed Active SETI and whether transmitting a message to possible intelligent extraterrestrials in the Cosmos was a good idea;[7][8] one result was a statement, (which was not signed by Seth Shostak or Frank Drake), that a "worldwide scientific, political and humanitarian discussion must occur before any message is sent".[9]
Current transmissions en route
Stars to which messages were sent include:
Star | Designation | Constellation | Date sent | Arrival date | Message |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Messier 13 | NGC 6205 | Hercules | November 16, 1974 | 25974 approx. | Arecibo message |
16 Cyg A | HD 186408 | Cygnus | May 24, 1999 | 2069, November | Cosmic Call 1 |
15 Sge | HD 190406 | Sagitta | June 30, 1999 | 2057, February | |
? | HD 178428 | Sagitta | June 30, 1999 | 2067, October | |
Gl 777 | HD 190360 | Cygnus | July 1, 1999 | 2051, April | |
? | HD 197076 | Delphinus | August 29, 2001 | 2070, February | Teen Age Message |
47 UMa | HD 95128 | Ursa Major | September 3, 2001 | 2047, July | |
37 Gem | HD 50692 | Gemini | September 3, 2001 | 2057, December | |
? | HD 126053 | Virgo | September 3, 2001 | 2059, January | |
? | HD 76151 | Hydra | September 4, 2001 | 2057, May | |
? | HD 193664 | Draco | September 4, 2001 | 2059, January | |
? | HIP 4872 | Cassiopeia | July 6, 2003 | 2036, April | Cosmic Call 2 |
? | HD 245409 | Orion | July 6, 2003 | 2040, August | |
55 Cnc | HD 75732 | Cancer | July 6, 2003 | 2044, May | |
? | HD 10307 | Andromeda | July 6, 2003 | 2044, September | |
47 UMa | HD 95128 | Ursa Major | July 6, 2003 | 2049, May | |
Polaris | HIP 11767 | Ursa Minor | February 4, 2008 | 2439 | Across the Universe |
Gliese 581 | HIP 74995 | Libra | October 9, 2008 | 2029 | A Message From Earth |
Gliese 581 | HIP 74995 | Libra | August 28, 2009 | 2030 | Hello From Earth |
Polaris | HIP 11767 | Ursa Minor | October 10, 2016 | 2450 | A Simple Response to an Elemental Message |
Luyten's Star | HIP 36208 | Canis Minor | October 16-18, 2017; May 14-16, 2018 | 2030, March | Sónar Calling GJ273b |
Along with serious IRM projects, a bulk of pseudo-METI[10] projects also exist:
References
- An Awkward History of Our Space Transmissions
- Reply To 'WOW! Signal' Gets Beamed Into Space
- "A Simple Response". European Space Agency official website. 28 July 2016. Retrieved 6 October 2016.
- "How to send a message to another planet". The Economist. 16 November 2017. Retrieved 19 November 2017.
- "Sónar Calling GJ 273b". Sónar Calling. Sónar Music Festival. Retrieved 1 May 2021.
- Wielen, R.; Jahreiß, H.; Dettbarn, C.; Lenhardt, H.; Schwan, H. (2000). "Polaris: Astrometric orbit, position, and proper motion". Astronomy and Astrophysics. 360: 399. arXiv:astro-ph/0002406. Bibcode:2000A&A...360..399W.
- Borenstein, Seth (of AP News) (13 February 2015). "Should We Call the Cosmos Seeking ET? Or Is That Risky?". New York Times. Retrieved 14 February 2015.
- Ghosh, Pallab (12 February 2015). "Scientist: 'Try to contact aliens'". BBC News. Retrieved 12 February 2015.
- Various (13 February 2015). "Statement - Regarding Messaging To Extraterrestrial Intelligence (METI) / Active Searches For Extraterrestrial Intelligence (Active SETI)". University of California, Berkeley. Retrieved 14 February 2015.
- Cooper, Keith (2010-05-03), SETI: Cosmic Call, Astronomy Now, archived from the original on 2015-05-26, retrieved 2010-05-05
- Gibbs, W. Wayt (2001), "Art as a Form of Life", Scientific American, 284 (4): 40–41, Bibcode:2001SciAm.284d..40G, doi:10.1038/scientificamerican0401-40
- Deep Space Network Frequently Asked Questions, Deep Space Communications Network, archived from the original on 2010-01-04
- List in Space: Calling the Cosmos Gets Commercial, Space_com, 23 March 2005
- Connecting with the Cosmos, CNES, 2006-01-26, archived from the original on 2010-05-13
- Doritos Makes History With World's First ET Advert, Spacedaily.com, 2008-06-13
- Chandler, David L. (2009-11-24), ET: Check your voicemail, MIT News
- Harris, Mark (2009-09-16), Is Sent Forever the worst Apollo 11 tie-in?, TechRadar, archived from the original on 2010-03-02
- Colvile, Robert (2010-02-09), Calling ET: Your chance to send a message to alien life, The Daily Telegraph, archived from the original on 2010-02-11