The Content Transmitted by Astronomer Carl Sagan to Extraterrestrial Beings: A Discussion
Step back to the year 1974, on November 16, when astrophysicist Frank Drake teamed up with astronomer Carl Sagan to create the infamous Arecibo transmission. This radio signal was fired off into the cosmos during a gathering celebrating the Arecibo radio telescope's reconstruction in Puerto Rico. Its purpose? To establish contact with extraterrestrial life and showcase humanity's technological advancements.
The signal consisted of 1679 binary digits, with a size of around 210 bytes, all packed into an easily digestible shape: 73 lines and 23 columns. It traveled at a frequency of 2380 MHz and lasted less than three minutes. Here's a lowdown on what those shapes and symbols really mean:
The 7 Essential Parts of the Arecibo Message
Element 1: Basic Numbers
This section kicks things off with binary versions of the numbers 1 to 10. But don't be fooled—you'll need to flip the way you read them: ignore the bottom line and focus on the three binary digits stacked vertically, with the top digit being the most significant. Numbers 8, 9, and 10 have an extra column beyond the first one.
Element 2: DNA Structure
You have the atomic numbers for hydrogen (H), carbon (C), nitrogen (N), oxygen (O), and phosphorus (P) here — elements we all know as the building blocks of our DNA.
Element 3: Nucleotides
Nucleotides, the basic units of DNA and RNA, are portrayed here as sequences derived from the five elements featured on the previous line. This arrangement represents the molecular makeup of the nucleotides found within our DNA.
Element 4: DNA Double Helix
This section illustrates the double helix structure of our DNA—pretty handy if we're talking to aliens with a similar chemical setup!
Element 5: Human Life
Here's where things get interesting. Pictured is a human figure, the average height of American men in 1974 (approximately 1.75m), and the global population in 1974 (4.3 billion).
Element 6: The Solar System
Next up is a mini replica of our solar system with the order of planets from the Sun outward: Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto (a planet at the time of transmission).
Earth is the third planet and gets lifted upwards in the diagram, with the human figure shown neatly above it. This offers a rough idea of planet sizes and our glowing Sun.
Element 7: The Arecibo Radio Telescope
Last but not least, a graphic of the Arecibo Radio Telescope itself, complete with its dish-like structure, is included to represent the instrument that carried our message out into the cosmos.
Shall We Send Out a New Signal?
More than four decades have passed since the Arecibo transmission was sent out. No response has been received, as the M13 globular cluster lies a staggering 22,000 light-years away from our planet. Yet, isn't it about time we drafted a new message for any potential alien listeners out there?
Our current technology has advanced substantially since 1974, and we've got a lot to share with any hypothetical eavesdroppers. No, we're not expecting a reply, but sending out a message feels like a positive step towards finding out whether we're truly alone in the universe.
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The Arecibo Message, sent in 1974, not only showcased humanity's technological advancements through binary numbers, DNA structure, nucleotides, DNA double helix, human life, the solar system, and the Arecibo Radio Telescope, but also served as an attempt to establish contact with extraterrestrial life. With the progression of technology, it's time to consider drafting a new cosmic message to reach potential alien listeners, encapsulating the technological, scientific, and space-and-astronomy advancements made in the decades since the initial transmission.
