How far, in distance (out into the universe), have humanity's radio waves gone so far?

Answer 1

Marconi transmitted the first radio waves that contained information in about the year 1895. Those radio waves today would have traveled 111 light years, since radio wave travel at the speed of light. They were not very strong and they may not be distinguisable from the background radiation but they are out there traveling outward from the point in space where they originated.

Now you might as ask how far is 111 light years. On an astronomical scale, not very far. The Milky Way galaxy is about 80,000 to 100,000 light years in diameter. So our first radio waves have traveled only 0.0014 % of the distance from one end of the galaxy to the other. The Sun is about 26,000 light years from the center of the galaxy so the first radio waves have traveled only 0.0043% of the way to the center.

The nearest star to the sun is 4.4 light years away. The 50 closest stars are within 15 light years. The 100 nearest are within 30 light years. So it is likely that the first radio waves have reached about 400 to 500 stars in the galaxy by now. Let's put that into some perspective. The galaxy is estimated to contain 200 to 400 billion stars.

The next nearest large galaxy is Andromeda galaxy. It is 2.5 million light years away. It is quite probable that by the time the first human radio waves reach Andromeda, humans may no longer inhabit the universe.

Answer 2

Well, that's a tough question. Since human's first detected radio waves in 1887 by Heinrich Hertz there's no real way to know exactly when the first "human transmitted" radio wave was.

Let's say for example the first radio wave was submitted around 1700, before any electrical devices were in use. Now a radio wave is simply a wave of light that extends to the radio region of the electromagnetic spectrum (which means it's wave lengths are very long). With that in mind, a radio wave travels at the speed of light or about 186,000 miles a second (700 million miles an hour).

From 1700 to 2006, within those 305 years a single radio wave could have traveled approximately 1792.912x10 to the 12th miles from the earth.

To size that up, one light year equals about 5.878x10 to the 12th miles. The universe has been estimated to be at least 156 billion light-years wide.

Answer 3

The first verified radio signal was sent and recieved by Guglielmo Marconi in the Summer of 1895. Approximately 111 years ago.

Radio waves travel at the speed of light or 299 792 458 m / s. The distance light travels in one year is 9.4605284 × 10 to the 15th meters. So, our radio waves have gone out 111 light years or 1.087960766 × 10 to the 18th meters.

We are located in the milky way galaxy. It is approximately 100,000 light years across and 1000 light years deep. We are approximately 28,000 light years from the center. From this, we can postulate that our earliest verified radio wave hasn't even left our galaxy yet.

The answer: Humanity's radio waves have traveled as far as 111 light years into the universe.

Answer 4

Radio has been around for about 100 years. .... (actually a little more) but assuming radio waves travel at about the speed of light... they have travelled for 100 light years. Multiply 100 x the distance light travels in one year at 186,000 miles per second. That seems like a lot, but really it is not that far when you think that a typical galaxy (there are thousands and thousands of them) is a couple of HUNDRED THOUSAND light years from end to end. The numbers get too big for a normal brain. But 100 light years is not even 1/10th of 1% of the distance across our own galaxy - The Milky Way. The only reason we can see the stars way out there beyondo our galaxy and see other galaxies is because that light has been travelling for billions of years to get here!

Answer 5

well.. when was the FIRST radio transmission? hmmm.. someplace I saw.. .1901 as the year.. maybe it was the first radio broadcast across the ocean.. or something.. but I'll go with that to give you an idea...

2006 - 1901 = 105 years .. radio waves travel at the speed of light.. so... that transmission (assuming that any of it is left after being absorbed by dust, planets, etc) would be 105 Light Years..

hmmm.. 186,000 miles/second.. times 60 seconds/minute
times 60 minutes/hour... times 24 hours/day... times 365.25 days/year.. times.. 105.. and that is how many miles it is from earth... or... about 6.1632 x 10^14 miles.

Answer 6

Well, the first radio transmission was in 1895. Assuming it was strong enough to leave earth then it has travelled 111 light years so far. To put this in perspective, our own galaxy (the Milky Way) is around 12,000 light years across. So they are still local.

Answer 7

The first human voice was heard December 24 1906. So 100 light years out into space someone is hearing us for the first time. Withthe other "first" answers, it is a matter of opinion...first "spark" first telegraph, first transmission over the air, first voice transmission, etc...

Answer 8

u should be able to figure it out mathematically. find the date the first radio wave was theoretically invented(broadcasted) find out what type of wave it was to determine speed. multiply that by hours days years whatever to get your finall very gigantic measurement of distance. its all guestimated, no one could prove it positively.

Answer 9

They passed out of our universe a long time ago.

Answer 10

relitiveley speaking, we have just gone an inch in our universe