If more powerful telescopes discovered civilisation on another planet?

Question

Should we send them a message? and if so
What should we say?

I thought the radio telescopes at SETI were already looking for civilisation and as far as I remember they ain't the size of the solar system.

Answer 1

Wish you were here? send us a postcard and do you want George W Bush back now?

Answer 2

We are already sending messages to other planets, albeit un-intentionally!

Many radio transmissions from the Earth leak out into space and travel across the universe. Would they still be strong enough to detect when they get to another star? I wouldn't think so, not given the enormous distances involved.

However, assuming that we eventually detect signals from another civilisation, regardless of what we decide to say to them it is going to take many years for the signal to reach them.

Even the closest star to us (proxima Centaurii) is 4.5 light-years away, so sending a signal there would take 4.5 years, and another 4.5 years for a reply to get back to us !

Assuming that the nearest civilisation may well be hundreds, thousands or even millions of light-years away from us, sending a radio message is going to take an awfully long time!

The Voyager space probes carry a message on a gold plaque that shows our solar system, what we look like and where we come from. To send a message via radio waves, we would have to assume an awful lot about the civilisation that's going to receive it. For instance, and most importantly, whether they are advanced enough to understand radio to actually receive the message! Of course, they may be extremely advanced and still never have discovered radio, for all we know they may use a completely different method of long-distance communication that we have never even dreamed of! (And that may be another reason SETI have never discovered anything. it may be the equivalent of looking for a radio signal with a fishing rod !)

Answer 3

Being able to receive a signal and having a transmitter powerful enough to send one back are not the same thing.
As for what we should send them, we have already sent that golden dinner tray with diagrams of man and woman and some music and greetings on it into outer space, so the issue has sort of been voted on already.
In the movie Species(?) we received the coded DNA of another species, so this would be a daring thing to send out. Maybe not moral though as whatever (whoever) they made out of the DNA would be beyond or ability to offer support and protection to. They might end up being a delicacy.
Still not a bad Sci-FI idea to study the nature of human beings. What would these 'people' become complettely cut off from human cultural influences? What would this reveal about how our genes shape our thoughts etc. etc.

Answer 4

Good luck with building a telescope of that magnitude. But, I would not send them a message until I knew how they lived their everyday lives. If they were a violent civilization I wouldn't even bother them. If they seemed peaceful, sure send em a message, but prepare for war when we tell them "Hi" in English and that means "F*** You!" in their language...Lol.

Answer 5

it depends on what sort of telescope they r using.infer red radio or optical.nearest star is alpha centurio? so it would take thousands of years 4 any communications to arrive on either planet.so to see life any where else u would have 2 go in2 a deep freeze until we hear anything.

Answer 6

A telescope that strong would need to be larger than the solar system ... forget it

Answer 7

I would suggest that we warn them to stay far, far away from Earth, for their own safety.

Answer 8

'Hiya!!!!!! If we ever ask to come and stay, say no...It'll just be because we've broken our own planet!'

Answer 9

Have you seen Lord Lucan???:-)

Answer 10

ayup duck