List of interstellar radio messages


This is a list of interstellar radio messages.

Classification of interstellar radio messages (IRMs)

There are eleven realized IRM projects:
"Across the Universe", "Hello From Earth" and "A Simple Response to an Elemental Message" are not always considered serious. The first two of them were sent to Polaris, which is 431 light years distant from us and whose planetary system, even if it exists, may not be suited for life, because it is a supergiant star, spectral type F7Ib which is only 70 million years old. In addition, both transmission rates were very high, about 128 kbit/s, for such moderate transmitter power. The main defect of the "Hello From Earth" is an insufficient scientific and technical justification, since no famous SETI scientist made statements with validation of HFE's design. As it follows from : "After the final message was collected on Monday 24 August 2009, messages were exported as a text file and sent to NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California, where they were encoded into binary, packaged and tested before transmission", but nobody explained why he hopes that such encoded and packaged text will be understood and conceived by possible extraterrestrials.
Some use the term Active SETI Project, but Alexander Zaitsev, who was a scientific head of composing and transmissions of Cosmic Call 1999 & 2003, and Teen Age Message 2001, and a scientific consultant of A Message From Earth, emphasized that he considers above IRMs as the METI.
These seven messages have targeted stars between 20 and 69 light-years from the Earth. The exception is the Arecibo message, which targeted globular cluster M13, approximately 24,000 light-years away. The first message to reach its destination will be A Message From Earth, which should reach the Gliese 581 planetary system in Libra in 2029.
On 13 February 2015, scientists at a convention of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, discussed Active SETI and whether transmitting a message to possible intelligent extraterrestrials in the Cosmos was a good idea; one result was a statement,, that a "worldwide scientific, political and humanitarian discussion must occur before any message is sent".

Current transmissions en route

Stars to which messages were sent include:
StarDesignationConstellationDate sentArrival dateMessage
Messier 13NGC 6205Hercules1974-11-16November 16, 1974approx. 25974Arecibo message
16 Cyg AHD 186408Cygnus1999-05-24May 24, 19992069-11November 2069Cosmic Call 1
15 SgeHD 190406Sagitta1999-06-30June 30, 19992057-02February 2057Cosmic Call 1
?HD 178428Sagitta1999-06-30June 30, 19992067-10October 2067Cosmic Call 1
Gl 777HD 190360Cygnus1999-07-01July 1, 19992051-04April 2051Cosmic Call 1
?HD 197076Delphinus2000-08-29August 29, 20012070-02February 2070Teen Age Message
47 UMaHD 95128Ursa Major2001-09-03September 3, 20012047-07July 2047Teen Age Message
37 GemHD 50692Gemini2001-09-03September 3, 20012057-12December 2057Teen Age Message
?HD 126053Virgo2001-09-03September 3, 20012059-12January 2059Teen Age Message
?HD 76151Hydra2001-09-04September 4, 20012057-05May 2057Teen Age Message
?HD 193664Draco2001-09-04September 4, 20012059-01January 2059Teen Age Message
?HIP 4872Cassiopeia2003-07-06July 6, 20032036-04April 2036Cosmic Call 2
?HD 245409Orion2003-07-06July 6, 20032040-08August 2040Cosmic Call 2
55 CncHD 75732Cancer2003-07-06July 6, 20032044-05May 2044Cosmic Call 2
?HD 10307Andromeda2003-07-06July 6, 20032044-09September 2044Cosmic Call 2
47 UMaHD 95128Ursa Major2003-07-06July 6, 20032049-05May 2049Cosmic Call 2
PolarisHIP 11767Ursa Minor2008-10-09February 4, 200824392439Across the Universe
Gliese 581HIP 74995Libra2008-10-09October 9, 200820292029A Message From Earth
Gliese 581HIP 74995Libra2008-10-09August 28, 200920302030Hello From Earth
PolarisHIP 11767Ursa Minor2008-10-09October 10, 201624502450A Simple Response to an Elemental Message

Along with serious IRM projects, a bulk of pseudo-METI projects also exist: