Alien Lore No. 240 - The Arecibo Message we sent into space

By Jack Brummet, Alien Lore Editor


The Arecibo Image is a short binary message the U.S. beamed into outer space. When decoded, it creates an image like something from a 1980's videogame.

Dr. Frank Drake, of Cornell University, wrote the message, with help from Carl Sagan, and others. The encoded message has seven parts:

1)  the numbers one (1) through ten (10):

2)  the atomic numbers of the elements hydrogen, carbon, nitrogen, oxygen, and phosphorus which make up DNA

3)  the formulas for the sugars and bases in the nucleotides of DNA/the number of nucleotides in DNA

4)  a graphic of the double helix structure of DNA
5)  a graphic figure of a man, the dimension (physical height) of an average man, and the human population of Earth

6)  a graphic of Earth's solar system

7)  a graphic of the Arecibo radio telescope and the dimension (the physical diameter) of the transmitting antenna dish. [Ed's note: Arecibo in Puerto Rico sends messages to the universe, and is the site where SETI attempts to track blips in the universe and link them to other intelligent beings.]

It will take 25,000 years for the message to reach its target of of stars (and, presumably, an additional 25,000 years for the return trip for any reply). Interestingly, the stars the message is aimed at will no longer be there when it arrives. According to a Cornell News press release of Nov. 12, 1999, the real purpose of the message was not to make contact, but to demonstrate the capabilities of newly installed equipment.

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