Cosmic Call Explained

Cosmic Call was the name of two sets of interstellar radio messages that were sent from RT-70 in Yevpatoria, Ukraine in 1999 (Cosmic Call 1) and 2003 (Cosmic Call 2) to various nearby stars. The messages were designed with noise-resistant format and characters.[1] [2]

The project was funded by Team Encounter,[3] a Texas-based startup, which went out of business in 2004.[4]

Both transmissions were at ~150 kW, 5.01 GHz (FSK +/-24 kHz).[5]

Message structure

Each Cosmic Call 1 session had the following structure. The Scientific Part (DDM, BM, AM, and ESM) was sent three times (at 100 bit/s),[6] and the Public Part (PP) was sent once (at 2000 bit/s), according to the following arrangement:

DDM → BM → AM → ESM → DDM → BM → AM → ESM → DDM → BM → AM → ESM → PP,

where DDM is the Dutil-Dumas Message,[7] [8] created by Canadian scientists Yvan Dutil and Stéphane Dumas, BM is the Braastad Message, AM is the Arecibo Message, and ESM is the Encounter 2001 Staff Message.

Each Cosmic Call 2 session in 2003 had the following structure:

DDM2 → DDM2 → DDM2 → AM → AM → AM → BIG → BIG → BIG → BM → ESM → PP,

where DDM2 is modernized DDM (aka Interstellar Rosetta Stone, ISR), BIG is Bilingual Image Glossary. All but the PP were transmitted at 400 bit/s

The ISR was 263,906 bits; BM, 88,687 bits, AM, 1,679 bits; BIG was 12 binary images 121,301 bits; ESM 24,899 bits. Total = 500,472 bits for 53 minutes. PP was 220 megabytes and sent at a rate of 100,000 bit/s for 11 hours total.

Error in Cosmic Call 1

The DDM incorrectly states the neutron mass as 1.67392... instead of the known value 1.67492... This error was corrected in DDM2.

Stars targeted

The messages were sent to the following stars:[9]

NameDesignation HDConstellationDate sentArrival dateMessage
16 Cyg AHD 186408 May 24, 1999November 2069Cosmic Call 1
HD 190406 June 30, 1999February 2057Cosmic Call 1
HD 178428 June 30, 1999October 2067Cosmic Call 1
HD 190360 July 1, 1999April 2051Cosmic Call 1
HIP 4872 July 6, 2003April 2036Cosmic Call 2
HD 245409 July 6, 2003August 2040Cosmic Call 2
HD 75732 July 6, 2003May 2044Cosmic Call 2
July 6, 2003September 2044Cosmic Call 2
HD 95128 July 6, 2003May 2049Cosmic Call 2

See also

External links

Notes and References

  1. Book: Oberhaus, Daniel . Extraterrestrial Languages . 2019-09-27 . MIT Press . 978-0-262-35527-8 . 99–104 . en . 1142708941 .
  2. Dumas, Stéphane; The 1999 and 2003 messages explained, 2005
  3. How a Couple of Guys Built the Most Ambitious Alien Outreach Project Ever, History of Cosmic Calls . Michael . Chorost . Smithsonian . September 26, 2016 .
  4. Web site: Team Encounter Mission: What Happened? . Astronomy.com Forums . 2009-03-02 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20090515102750/http://cs.astronomy.com/asycs/forums/p/17428/295175.aspx . 2009-05-15 .
  5. Web site: Synthesis and Transmission of Cosmic Call 2003 Interstellar Radio Message . Richard . Braastad (Team Encounter, USA) . Alexander . Zaitsev (IRE RAS, Russia) .
  6. http://www.cplire.ru/html/ra&sr/irm/report-1999.html "Broadcast for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence from Evpatoria Deep Space Center" Report on Cosmic Call 1999
  7. Web site: Bitmap . 2021-09-22 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20070512200908/http://www3.sympatico.ca/stephane_dumas/CETI/evpatoria_2003.txt . 2007-05-12 .
  8. Web site: Image . 2021-09-22 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20120114080707/http://www3.sympatico.ca/stephane_dumas/CETI/evpatoria_2003.jpg . 2012-01-14 .
  9. Web site: Передача и поиски разумных сигналов во Вселенной . 2009-02-22 . 2012-02-10 . https://web.archive.org/web/20120210090149/http://www.cplire.ru/rus/ra%26sr/VAK-2004.html . dead .