Week of June 22-28, 2014

In November 1974, a cryptic three-minute radio signal streamed skyward from the newly dedicated 1,000-foot-diameter radio telescope in Arecibo, Puerto Rico. It carried the story of our species, our world and our understanding of the cosmos.

The signal was sent in the direction of the constellation Hercules, toward a giant globular star cluster known to astronomers by the hopelessly poetic name of "M13." They chose M13 because among the cluster's hundreds of thousands of stars might exist at least some planets where technologically advanced life could exist.

But today, four decades later, no one is sitting around awaiting a response for, you see, even traveling at the remarkable speed of light — 186,282 miles per second — the signal has journeyed little more than one-thousandth of the way toward its destination. If it should one day be received and deciphered, a reply would take another 250 centuries to reach us.

Not a particularly lively conversation, but that's OK. No one ever expected a reply. The signal was intended only as a message in a bottle, tossed by the human race to the cosmic sea. It said, in essence, "We're here". And, while we may never know its fate, it might one day let other beings curious about their own uniqueness know that they are not alone.

It's all a pretty remarkable concept, if you ask me. And equally remarkable is that we can see this very star cluster with our own eyes on any clear, dark night ... if we know just where to look.

During late June, gaze high in the east after dark to find the constellation Hercules — or Heracles as the ancient Greeks knew him — who represents the immortal strong man of Greek mythology.

Hercules is the fifth largest constellation in the sky but, because it doesn't contain any brilliant stars, it's not particularly prominent. What is easier to locate, however, are four stars that form a distorted square, or "keystone".

From a dark-sky site, identify the keystone of Hercules and look about one-third of the way between the northwestern-most and the southwestern-most stars for a faint, fuzzy patch of light. You may not see it at first, so try a trick used frequently by astronomers. Instead of staring directly at this spot, look slightly off to its side. When not looking directly at it, you should see its hazy light more easily.

This seemingly insignificant smudge is one of a hundred or so globular star clusters known throughout our Milky Way Galaxy. These contain hundreds of thousands of relatively old stars bound together by gravitation, the same force that holds us to the Earth.

Though M13 is barely visible to the unaided eye on a clear, dark night, aim a small telescope in its direction and you'll be stunned by the thousands of stars you can see within its spherical form. You will surely exclaim, "It's full of stars!"

And, if there are alien stargazers living in M13, imagine what they might see in their own sky. The stars would appear hundreds of times more concentrated than under the best conditions here on Earth, and nighttime would be a exceedingly rare and bone-chilling experience.

Visit Dennis Mammana at www.dennismammana.com. To read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.