Our challenge: the message
Compose a graphic message or pictogram with which to establish a first contact with a possible alien civilization.
The pictogram must consist of a matrix of 73×73 pixels and each pixel can take only one of these two values: either black or white.
Download the template here to make your own pictogram. It is an essential requirement that the pictogram is accompanied by a brief report of a maximum of 1 page, explaining its meaning and justification.
In addition, the images shown must comply with a series of ethical requirements detailed in our Didactic Guide.
Where will we send it?
Of all the potentially habitable worlds that are within a reasonably close distance in terms of communication (enough time for the message to arrive and its possible response in the span of a human lifetime) this year we have selected the planet Luyten b (better known as GJ273 b) which is located 12,3 light years from Earth in the constellation Canis Minor.
We will have to wait 25 years for a possible answer to arrive. But it would be much worse if we wanted to get there. It would take 341,000 years for the Voyager probe to arrive. So we will have to be patient.
Who can participate?
Students from schools throughout Spain from 3rd year of ESO to 2nd year of Baccalaureate and Vocational Training (FPB and CCFF GM).
When and how to participate? Key dates
The official start of the contest is on Monday, October 14, 2024. Here are the steps to participate:
INFORMATIVE NOTE: Unfortunately two weeks ago our “Terreta” was devastated by a meteorological disaster. In attention to the affected students and teachers, who will not be able to resume their educational activity until the end of November, we have extended the registration and sending deadlines and we encourage them to join this contest to send THEIR MESSAGE.
STEP 1. Registration: To participate you must register your center and your groups in the following registration form. The registration period opens on October 14, 2024 with the start of the contest and will close on December 20, 2024.
We understand a maximum of 5 students per group.
STEP 2. Submission of productions: We will receive your proposals through the following link from December 2 until January 24, 2025.
SUBMISSION OF PAPERS
(this link will be enabled on December 2, 2024)
STEP 3. Jury’s decision: The jury will publish the three winning works of the competition on Thursday, January 30, 2025.
The winning messages will be selected by a committee of representatives of all the collaborating entities and the decision will be based on the criteria detailed in the following scale.
STEP 4. Sending the message to Luyten b: The radio transmission of the message will take place in the week of March 3 to 7, coinciding with the anniversary of Willem Jacob Luyten, the astronomer after whom the star and its planetary system are named.
What is the prize?
From all the pictograms that we receive from the participating centres, three messages will be selected and sent to Luyten b through the INTA antennas at ESA’s European Space Astronomy Centre (ESAC) in Villanueva de la Cañada (Madrid).
Groups of students whose messages are selected together with one teacher per group will be invited to access the facilities of ESA’s European Space Astronomy Centre (ESAC) in Villanueva de la Cañada (Madrid) and witness the pointing of the antenna as well as personally proceed to send the message manually 📡 .
If your message is not selected, it will not be broadcast by the antennas to Luyten b but it will be published on our website. (Registration in the contest implies acceptance of this condition).
How to work with telegram to a planet in class?
Participating teachers must download the Didactic Guide in which they will find, in addition to the instructions and a template for the preparation of the pictogram, resources of all kinds to work in the classroom on the different related topics.
As a summary, we provide you with the following presentation that includes the contents of the guide.
For direct application in the classroom, we provide you with the following example of a teaching unit with a selection of content and its sequencing, as well as the corresponding exercise sheets that you can download here. (The proposed exercises are aimed at 4th ESO students. For other levels, adaptation is required)
📢 As a novelty, this year you can also participate in a videoconference during school hours so that your class can ask questions to our astrobiologist Fernando Ballesteros. The date and time of the videoconference will be assigned by OAUV based on the number of requests received. If you wish to participate, click on the corresponding box on the registration form.
During the production process we will be happy to answer your queries which you should send to the email address teleplaneta@uv.es or, alternatively, to auladelcel@uv.es.
Alternatively you can follow all the news related to the contest on their telegram channel.
Cheer up and go for your interstellar “Hello World”!
Link to previous contest: Telegram to a Planet 1st Edition (2023_24)
