1974 Arecibo Message: A 73-by-23 Binary Portrait of Humanity Sent to M13

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Designed by Frank Drake, James C. G. Walker, Linda M. French, and Richard Isaacman with Carl Sagan, the 1974 Arecibo broadcast to M13 was a one‑off display of human achievement rather than a real attempt to converse, encoding 1679 binary digits into a 73‑by‑23 image showing numbers 1–10, the atomic numbers of key elements, DNA and its nucleotides, a diagram of a human and the global population, a Solar System with Earth, and the Arecibo dish, transmitted at 2,380 MHz with a 10 Hz shift for under three minutes at about 450 kilowatts, and though M13 lies about 25,000 light‑years away the cluster’s motion will shift the target so the message should land near the center, while a 2001 Chilbolton crop circle spoof copied the format with altered visuals and was dismissed as earthly, and later analyses use information‑theoretic ideas to detect structure and distinguish signal from noise with varying interpretations.

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Arecibo message - Wikipedia

An interstellar radio message sent in 1974 from the Arecibo Observatory to M13, designed by Frank Drake, James C. G. Walker, Linda M. French, and Richard Isaacman with contributions from Carl Sagan, consisted of 1,679 binary digits arranged as 73 by 23 and encoded seven sections that depict numbers 1–10, the atomic numbers of hydrogen, carbon, nitrogen, oxygen, and phosphorus, the nucleotides and DNA, the dimensions of a human and the global population, a schematic Solar System with Earth highlighted, and the Arecibo telescope’s own dish, transmitted at about 450 kilowatts with a carrier at 2,380 MHz and a 10 Hz shift for under three minutes; although it targeted M13 roughly 25,000 light-years away, the cluster’s orbital motion means its position will shift and the message should arrive near the center, while a 2001 crop-circle hoax near Chilbolton echoed the format and imagery but altered DNA visuals and the telescope pictogram and was dismissed by SETI as earthly; subsequent analyses have applied information-theoretic criteria to identify content and distinguish it from noise, proposing various measures to detect structure and correct aspect ratio with varying interpretations.