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Concept

Pulsar map

A circular diagram with concentric rings and labeled pulsar names encircles a central yellow sphere, representing the Sun's location relative to fourteen pulsars as depicted on the Pioneer plaques and Voyager record covers.

A diagram engraved on the Pioneer plaques and Voyager record covers that locates the Sun by triangulating fourteen pulsars whose precise rotation frequencies are written in binary. Because pulsars slow at known rates, a sufficiently advanced finder can read the diagram both as a map and as a date stamp, working out where the probe came from and roughly when it was sent.

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