A Message to Altair
 | This article is a rough translation from Japanese. It may have been generated by a computer or by a translator without dual proficiency. |
A Message to Altair (Japanese: アルタイルへのメッセージ), officially named CALL to the COSMOS'83[citation needed], was an interstellar radio message sent from a radio telescope in Stanford, California, USA to the star Altair in 1983.[1][2] The message was part of a collaboration with Weekly Shonen Jump, commemorating the publication's 15th anniversary.
Transmission
The message consisted of two parts: audio containing messages from children; and a set of 13 images produced by Prof. Masaki Morimoto and Hisashi Hirabayashi.[2] The message was transmitted on August 15, 1983 from Stanford, California, USA, with each part being sent over 30 minutes.
The 13 images show numbers, DNA, as well as the evolution of living things from simple organisms to humans. The images in the table below are recreations of the original images sent, which were actually 71 x 71 bits in size. This size was chosen because the product of 71, 71, and 13 is close to the number 216.[citation needed]
Parts of the images are colour-coded for ease of reading:
- Black: numbers, text
- Green: elements
- Blue: lengths
| Number | Recreated Image | Explaination |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | File:Message to Altair 01.png | Numbers and elements
From top to bottom, left to right:
|
| 2 | File:Message to Altair 02.png | Solar System
Middle: diagrams (not to scale) of the celestial bodies that make up the Solar System.
Left: equatorial radii Right: mean distances from the Sun Upper-right: R = 10 m |
| 3 | File:Message to Altair 03.png | Chemical formulae for DNA compounds |
| 4 | File:Message to Altair 04.png | DNA structure and replication |
| 5 | File:Message to Altair 05.png | Early primative life
Upper-right: diagram size = 0.5 mm
|
| 6 | File:Message to Altair 06.png | Jellyfish
Upper-right: diagram size = 10 cm Bottom: C + O2 = CO2, representing the process of respiration[citation needed] |
| 7 | File:Message to Altair 07.png | FIsh
Upper-right: diagram size = 50 cm Middle: H2O, indicating that the fish is in water |
| 8 | File:Message to Altair 08.png | Amphibians
Upper-right: diagram size = 1 m Middle: O2 × 1 and N2 × 4, representig the rough composition of the Earth's atmosphere Bottom: H2O |
| 9 | File:Message to Altair 09.png | Lizards or early mammals
Upper-right: diagram size = 1 m |
| 10 | File:Message to Altair 10.png | Apes
Upper-right: diagram size = 2 m |
| 11 | Error creating thumbnail: | Humans
Upper-right: diagram size = 2 m Top:
|
| 12 | File:Message to Altair 12.png | Close up of the woman's face
Upper-right: diagram size = 36.4 cm |
| 13 | File:Message to Altair 13.png | Transmission parameters and a toast
Top: total number of bits Left:
Right: |
Search for a response
Altair is approximately 17 light-years away, so the message would have arrived around 2000. Hirabayashi said that while the possibility is not high, if Altair has intelligent life, we could expect a reply from 2017 at the earliest.[5]
In 2023, Shinya Narusawa, who had communicated with Morimoto before his death, asked the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) for cooperation in looking for any potential reply from Altair. The radio antenna at Usuda Space Observatory observed Altair for an hour at 10 p.m. on August 22nd.[4] This also fell on the day of the Japanese festival of Tanabata - legend states that it is the only day of the year that deities Orihime and Hikoboshi (represented by Vega and Altair respectively) are allowed to meet each other. Narusawa aims to continue his observations by collaborating with other research institutions.[5]
References
- ↑ Hirabayashi Hisashi, "I want to meet aliens! - Astronomers explore the mystery of extraterrestrial life," Gakken Education Publishing (2014)
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Hirabayashi Hisashi, Miyauchi Katsusuke, "Message from E.T.: Lectures on the Exploration of Extraterrestrial Civilizations", Asahi Publishing (1987)
- ↑ NAGAUCHI, Yosuke (2008-05-12). "【科学】届け宇宙人への電子メール ２５年前に送信、７年後にも返信来る！？ (1/2ページ)". MSN産経ニュース (MSN Sankei News) (in 日本語). Archived from the original on 2008-05-17. Retrieved 2025-02-18. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ 4.0 4.1 Endo, Kazuki (August 20, 2023). "'Anybody there?' Astronomers waiting for a reply from Altair". The Asahi Shimbun. Retrieved February 18, 2025.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 "そろそろ七夕のひこ星から返信がある頃だ…40年前に送信、宇宙人からメッセージ受信計画 兵庫県立大とJAXA". 神戸新聞NEXT (Kobe Shimbun NEXT) (in Japanese). 2023-08-10. Retrieved 2025-04-16.CS1 maint: Unrecognized language (link)
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