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Astronomers are eagerly awaiting the possibility of a first contact with intelligent life in response to a message transmitted into the cosmos four decades ago, according to a report by the Japanese newspaper Asahi Shimbun.
Their optimism stems from the proximity of the star system Altair, which is 16.7 light years away from Earth, making this a plausible timeframe for a response.
The stargazers have chosen August 22, coinciding with the lunar calendar’s celebration of the July 7 Tanabata star festival, where celestial “lovers” Altair and Vega take centre stage, to be on standby for a potential extra-terrestrial message.
This year, Tanabata falls on August 22 according to the lunar calendar. In 1983, when the “Hello, is anybody there?” message was sent to the cosmos, it fell on August 15.
A team led by Shinya Narusawa at the University of Hyogo will deploy a 64-meter diameter antenna in Saku, Nagano Prefecture, with hopes of detecting radio signals in response to the message transmitted sent in 1983.
This message, consisting of 13 drawings illustrating the history of life on Earth and the appearance of humans, among other information, was crafted by astronomers Masaki Morimoto and Hisashi Hirabayashi. Radio signals representing these drawings were transmitted from the United States on August 15, 1983, as part of a space-themed project commemorating the 15th anniversary of the weekly comic anthology Shonen Jump, according to Narusawa.
Narusawa, 58, believes that intelligent life beyond Earth must exist somewhere in the universe. Narusawa said, “A large number of exoplanets have been detected since the 1990s.” He is also a SETI researcher. “Altair may have a planet whose environment can sustain life,” he added.
Morimoto, a Japanese pioneer in the field known as the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI), worked at the Tokyo Astronomical Observatory of the University of Tokyo, which is now a part of the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan. Sadly, he has since passed away. Hirabayashi is a professor emeritus at the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency.
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His team aimed the antenna at JAXA’s Usuda Deep Space Center for an hour starting from 10 p.m. on August 22.
During Tanabata, Japanese tradition involves prayers for the annual meeting of a cowherd and a weaver, mythological lovers separated by the Milky Way can meet at least once a year, on July 7. The cowherd is represented by Altair in the Aquila constellation, while the weaver is associated with Vega in the Lyra constellation, reported Asahi Shimbun..
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Updated: 23 Aug 2023, 06:52 AM IST
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