Official News page 8

ON THE WEB: WHAT ALIENS ARE WATCHING ON TV

by Hazed

Since the invention of radio, we humans have been announcing our presence to the universe by beaming signals out into space. Then when we started broadcasting TV, we sent out pictures, too. Aliens on other worlds should be able to pick up those broadcasts and watch our terrestrial television programmes.

So what have they been watching? Given that the signals move at the speed of light, and the nearest planet is just over 4 light years away, the TV they are receiving right now is from 2006.

This handy chart, compiled last year, shows just which programmes have made it to which star systems. It is fascinating to imagine the picture they would get of humans from that viewing.

Fed2 Star index Previous issues Fed 2 home page