Can someone describe how and how far and in what capacity do radio transmissions on earth travel into space?

Question

I just want to know how aa song played on the radio travels into space, how far and for how long...sorry if this is convoluted..You see I just read about how a beatles track was beamed into space via nasas deep space network , but i thought all radio travels to space anyway. What is the difference here?

Answer 1

"They decrease in strength over distance" at the rate of the inverse square law.

they don't make it much further than 5 light years.

but it could be possible that more advanced tech could still reassemble the radio waves

(it was "all across the universe" on nasa's broadcast. aimed at polaris 140 light years away... I'm not sure if the signal will make it)

bob marley's "One Love" was sent nine years ago too

Answer 2

Indefinitely far.

They travel at the speed of light.

And every single transmission we make goes out there.

Answer 3

The signal strength follows the inverse square law - the energy from a transmitter is 1/2 the strength at twice the distance.

So, if the signal strength is 100w at 50 miles,

it's 50w at 100 miles, and so on.....

The signal was beamed at specific targets, in a concentrated form to try to maintain signal strength at extreme distances. (This is because they are concentrating the radio emission in only ONE direction, instead of broadcast EVERYWHERE.)

Their hope is that the song will be received.

(I believe that the song was "All You Need is Love".)

Answer 4

Radio waves are electromagnetic radiation, just like light or xrays or ultraviolet.

They travel in straight lines (unless they travel close to a strong gravitational field) and they travel at the speed of light.

So a radio broadcast (or a TV show) that left Earth 50 years ago is now 50 light years from Earth.

Answer 5

Not all transmissions can penetrate the ionosphere, which is a plasma.  This is why AM or CB signals "skip" and can be heard over great distances.  

The conditions of the ionosphere determine what frequencies make it through.  Satellites above the ionosphere are not subject to the same limitation.  

Radio (electromagnetic) waves that make it through the ionosphere propagate at the speed of light through space.  They decrease in strength over distance.  Just as a flashlight beam may be bright on a wall 10 feet away, it is probably not visible on a mountain 10 miles away.