wapd@houxj.UUCP (08/30/83)
Sorry about the cryptic title. What I am referring to is the gold disk on the side of whatever vehicle is leaving the solar system (Pioneer ?). The thing with the drawing of a man and a woman, picture of solar system, etc. I forget where I saw it, but I saw a picture of it that explained everything on it. The question is : what were the little dashes or dots that were supposed to be the numbers 1-10 in binary ? I looked at it and could not decipher it as that or anything else meaningful, and I had been "told what it was". Could someone reproduce that piece and explain it ? Bill Dietrich houxj!wapd
patm@bronze.UUCP (Pat McNamara) (08/31/83)
The dashed lines represent the patterns of radio signals generated by a dozen or so pulsars. In theory a reasonably intelli- gent being could triangulate the position of our solar system by the angular relationships of these signals to one another. I don't know how this is done in three dimensions given a two dimensional representation. But at any rate, let's hope that the beings that pick up this wandering roadmap don't have to park their battle cruisers to haul it in... Pat McNamara Tektronix, Inc.
paulp@tekcad.UUCP (08/31/83)
#R:houxj:-28700:tekcad:9000001:000:656
tekcad!paulp Aug 30 19:11:00 1983
The directions of the lines, and the dot dashes along them, point
to pulsars as seen from the earth. The binary information relates
their rotational periods in terms of the 21 cm line of neutral
hydrogen.
Presuming the spin down rates of pulsars are constant, or that the
perturbing factors can be determined, the finder can identify the
pulsars, regress their proper motions, and find the solar system.
Paul Pomes
Usenet: {ucbvax,decvax,pur-ee,ihnss,chico}!teklabs!tekcad!paulp
CSnet: paulp@tek
ARPA: paulp.tek@rand-relay
US Mail: Paul Pomes, Tektronix, Inc.
Box 500 MS 59-323, Beaverton OR 97077
Phone: 503-627-2341Lynn.es@PARC-MAXC.ARPA@sri-unix.UUCP (09/01/83)
The gold disks were on the Voyagers (1 and 2), had recordings of sounds and sights of earth on them, and are not what you are describing. The gold-anodized aluminum rectangular plaques have the drawings you refer to, and were on Pioneers 10 and 11. The binary numbers are represented by ones for ones and dashes for zeros. They are used in four places on the plaques. 1) There is a one by the drawing of hydrogen atoms emitting their characteristic wavelength (21 cm). This is to show that this is the time and distance unit for the other numbers. 2) There is an eight (1---) next to a dimension (of 8 x 21 cm) on a picture of the spacecraft and people. This gives the size of the people and double checks the size units against the spacecraft itself. 3) There are large binary numbers giving the periods (in units of the time period of 21 cm hydrogen) of 14 prominent nearby pulsars. 4) The distances from the sun to each of the nine planets is given in weird units (approx 0.039 AU). The directions and relative distances of the pulsars are given by a diagram. The positions and periods would allow determination of the location of our system within several light years and the time of launch within a year (because pulsar periods increase with time). The diagram of the planets would allow precise identification of the sun and earth. More info on the plaques is in one chapter of "The Cosmic Connection" by Carl Sagan. /Don Lynn
CSvax:cmh@pur-ee.UUCP (09/01/83)
I don't think we are of such intergalactic importance that unknown space races pull out their space fleet to zap us... Chris Hoffmann