In early 1998, we were monitoring the net for simulated SETI messages. Those activities involved the decoding of fictional ET messages.
Later on that same year, we learned that the company Team Encounter wanted to celebrate the New Year by sending an interstellar message. They were asking for volunteers to help them write a message to the stars. We proposed our help to be in the team. After a brief exchange of email, we end up leading the project of writing the message itself. It took nearly six months to research, develop and write the message. We were doing it during week-ends and after work. Special computer software were built to generated, test and write the alphabet and the text itself.
The message send in 1999 is a series of small pictures of 127 by 127 pixels. Each page contains symbols conveying the information. The whole message starts by describing mathematical concepts and symbols. The following pages are a progressive introduction to basic notions of physics, chemistry and biology. The message is more than merely symbols put on a page. Some concepts and knowledge described in it can only be achieved by a great deal of understanding the nature surrounding us. For example, by displaying the periodic table of atoms we do more then just saying we know those atoms. It states that we understand the fundamental structure of matter. Knowledge of Science is like a tree. Knowledge of a small branch implies that the big one is well understood.
At the end of the message, we invite the reader to send a reply. After explaining what we are and what we know, we ask those same questions and hope for a reply.
It was broadcasted from the Evpatoria installation to those stars:
| Star name | HD178428 | HD186408 | HD1900360 | HD190040 |
| Visual mag | 6.08 | 5.99 | 5.73 | 5.08 |
| Spectral type | G5V | G2V | G6IV+ | G1V |
| Distance (lyr) | 68.3 | 70.5 | 51.8 | 57.6 |
| R.A., J2000 | 19h07m57s | 19h41m49s | 20h03m27s | 20h04m06s |
| Dec, J2000 | 16d51m12s | 50d31m30s | 29d53m48s | 17d04m13s |
All these target are single star, except HD186408 (aka 16 Cygnus A) which is a wide binary. The companion, 16 Cygnus B, has a Gaseous Giant orbiting it. They are in a region of the Milky Way that is nearly perfect for our needs. In that direction, the noise degradation of the signal carrier will be minimal. Furthermore, there are others interesting targets beyond those stars.
It was sent by the Evpatoria Installation on May 24th, 1999.
The 2003 message is an improvement over the 1999. It no longer divided into 23 pages but rather into a very long page.
The message can be download as a bitmap or an image.
The Message was sent by the Evpatoria Installation on July 6th (from 02:00 to 07:39) and by Roswell, New Mexico on the same day (05:00 to 10:39 MST).
| Star name | Hip 26335 (Orion) | Hip 43587 (55 Cnc) for Cancer | Hip 4872 for Cassiopeia | Hip 52721 (47 UMa) for Ursa Major | Hip 7918 for Andromeda |
| Visual mag | 8.78 | 5.96 | 9.56 | 5.03 | 4.96 |
| Spectral type | K7 | G8V | K5V | G0V | G2V |
| Distance (lyr) | 37.1 | 40.9 | 32.8 | 45.9 | 41.2 |
| R.A., J2000 | 05:36:30.991 | 08:52:35:811 | 01:02:38.867 | 10:59:27.974 | 01:41:47.15 |
| Dec, J2000 | +11 19 40.32 | +28 19 50.95 | +62 20 42.18 | +40 25 48.88 | +42 36 48.5 |
Please contact us to have a copy of the document explaining both messages.
Evpatoria is a small town located in in Crimea, Ukraine. The radio telescope is located near that town. The installation is owned by the P.N. Lebedev Institute of Russian Academy of Sciences.
The antenna is 70m of diameter with a 150kW transmitter at 6cm.
