The Arecibo Message was a 1974 radio transmission from Earth to the M13 star cluster. It contained 1679 binary digits, which when arranged into a 23x73 grid showed an encoded message. This message was specially designed to communicate with extra-terrestrial life. Read the Wikipedia page for further info.
This Arecibo Grid Generator allows you to input that 1974 binary sequence, or any other binary sequence, to generate an Arecibo-style grid. It also allows you to configure the grid width. Use the auto-fill buttons below for a quick example.
Autofill: Want to auto-fill with the binary of the first Arecibo Message from 1974 or the crop-circle Arecibo Answer from 2001? Click these buttons:
Binary String - Provide a binary sequence (011010 for example), or use digits 0-9 (0123456789 for example) for the Greyscale option. If using greyscale digits, don't forget to check the greyscale box.
Current length:
Settings
Enable Greyscale - Display cells in shades of grey based on the binary string's value. 0 represents 0% black, 1 is 10% black, up to 9 which is 100% black.
Prime Factors - The original Arecibo message had 1679 digits with prime factors 23 and 73, hinting at a 23x73 grid. Similarly, other Arecibo messages might use prime factors to indicate the correct grid size. Click the numbers to set the Grid Line Length:
Set your Grid Line Length:
Generated Arecibo Grids
Standard direction (left), mirrored direction (right):