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Yes, that’s right, astronomers especially are showcasing the human species and our accomplishments off in space. They are doing so with the Arecibo message. If reading this made you say, “how are they doing this and what is the Arecibo message?” You need to read this article. You’ll find out all kinds of interesting things by doing so.
What is the Arecibo message?
This message was sent out to different stars in this universe in 1974. It was sent solely because NASA’s scientists wanted to show off their many accomplishments since they had successfully sent men to the moon five years earlier. The Arecibo message was sent from the Arecibo Radio Telescope in Puerto Rico on November 16, 1974. Basically speaking, the message is a bunch of computer-generated gifs, characters, and symbols that explain who humans are and their many technological accomplishments in the 500 plus years since the beginning of the Renaissance era.
More about the Arecibo message
The message was sent towards star M13 which is a constellation of stars that was 25,000 light-years away at the time. The message contains numbers one through ten which are in white text. It also contains the atomic numbers of the following elements which are core to life on Earth. They are hydrogen, carbon, nitrogen, oxygen, and hydrogen. These elements are strategic because they make up the base pairs and backbone of DNA – the blueprint of human life. The message also contains the formulas that describe the sugars and bases in DNA. Arecibo message contains a graphic that describes how the average human and human population looked at the time. It contains a simple map of the solar system which Earth is on. In fact, the message shows that it emanates from Earth which appears in yellow on it. It shows a graphic image of the telescope that the message originally emanated from.
Some interesting Facts
Arecibo message contains 1,679 binary digits which consume 210 bytes of data. It travels through space at 2,380 MHz an hour. The white numbers are arranged in binary format. The purple atomic numbers show the Atomic names and numbers (underneath the names) for the elements that compose DNA. The green nucleotides are depicted as the molecular formulas which they assume when in DNA
The white and blue numbers that represent the double helix show the number of known base pairs in the human genome at the time. The red, blue, white, and white human and symbol of the human population shows the average shape of the average human at the time, the size of the entire human population on Earth at the time, and the average height of an American man. The planets are in yellow and show all of the planets in our solar system and their positions. It also shows the Earth’s position in relation to that of the Sun. Finally, the purple telescope symbol represents its size and diameter. It, in essence, describes the telescope and its importance to humans.
The Arecibo message is a great accomplishment
That the Arecibo message showed so much strategic information about humans and their accomplishments since the Renaissance is indeed a demonstration of the amazing ability of humans. However, it could get into the wrong hands in outer space and could be used by extraterrestrials to eventually try to destroy human civilization!
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