What is the Arecibo Message?
Q: What is the Arecibo Message?
A: The Arecibo message was a short radio message sent into space to celebrate the remodeling of the Arecibo radio telescope in Puerto Rico in 1974. It was aimed at the globular star cluster M13, about 25,000 light years from Earth.
Q: Who wrote the message?
A: Dr. Frank Drake, then at Cornell University and creator of the famous Drake equation, wrote the message, with help from Carl Sagan, among others.
Q: What did it contain?
A: The message was in seven parts which show numbers one (1) to ten (10), atomic numbers of elements hydrogen, carbon, nitrogen, oxygen and phosphorus which make up deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA), formulas for sugars and bases in nucleotides of DNA, number of nucleotides in DNA and a graphic of double helix structure of DNA; figure of a human size average man; human population on Earth; Solar System; Arecibo Observatory and diameter of transmitting antenna dish.
Q: How long will it take for any reply to be received?
A: It will take 25,000 years for the message to reach its destination and at least another 25,000 years to get any reply.
Q: Why was it sent?
A: The real purpose behind sending this message was not to make contact but rather as a show of human technological achievement.
Q: What does 1679 signify?
A: 1679 is semiprime number which can be arranged as 73 rows by 23 columns or 23 rows by 73 columns but only one arrangement produces meaningful result when translated into graphics characters and spaces.
Q: What album is named after this event?
A: In 2009 band Boxcutter made an album called 'The Arecibo Message', which has many short songs related to this event.
