Astrophysicists May Have Found the Source of Mysterious Wow! Signal

On August 15 , 1977 , the Big Ear observatory in Ohio find fault up an unusually intense wireless signaling . The signal was so unequalled that it prompted astronomer Jerry Ehman to draw a violent circle around it and scribble the word ‘ Wow ! ’ to highlight his amazement . Since then , the Wow ! signal , as it issue forth to be known , has puzzled scientists who were unable to pinpoint its beginning . However , a new project dedicate to puzzle out the enigma of the signal may have had a breakthrough .

Using archived data from the former Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico , the Arecibo Wow ! ( AWOW ) project uncovered similar data that indicate the 47 - twelvemonth - old radio signal was the result of a rarefied upshot that caused a monolithic cloud of hydrogen to shine exceedingly brightly . A paper describing the results will soon be submitted for compeer review with a scientific journal , the team’sproject pagestates .

Abel Méndez , associate professor of cathartic and astrobiology at the University of Puerto Rico , who top the study , admits that he only start out diving deep into the Wow ! signal before this twelvemonth . “ I have to confess , the Wow ! sign for me , and for many astronomers , was something like a trematode worm , ” he say Gizmodo . “ So I never really bear attending to it . ”

The computer printout where astronomer Jerry Ehman scribbled ‘Wow!’ next to the signal detection.

The computer printout where astronomer Jerry Ehman scribbled ‘Wow!’ next to the signal detection.Big Ear Radio Observatory

For eld , Méndez has been search habitableness across the world by observe star and the planet that orbit them . In May , he bumble upon a telecasting explaining the Wow ! signal , and it got him hooked . “ I think , well that would be something amazing to happen in our data , ” Méndez say .

The Wow ! signal collect so much attention because of how comparatively small its bandwidth was while lasting for 72 seconds of strange saturation ( it had a narrow bandwidth near the 1420 megahertz atomic number 1 line ) . For it to have this narrow of a frequency but still be this potent and pack this much energy evoke that it was an artificial sign . This obviously sparked exotic rumors , with some believe the infection was send by an extraterrestrial civilisation .

The researchers behind the AWOW projection wanted to see if another , standardized signal could be found , so they looked over data gathered by the Arecibo scope from 2017 to 2020 . They found similar narrowband signals near the hydrogen line of descent , though less acute than the original Wow ! transcription .

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The Wow ! signal wannabee were a effect of interstellar clouds of stale hydrogen ( HI ) in the coltsfoot , although they were two orders of order of magnitude less bright . Méndez and his team believe that , for the Wow ! signal to be so bright , it may have been because of a sudden brightening due to a transient source of radiation such as a magnetar . A magnetar is a type of neutron wiz with extremely strong magnetic fields , and it could charge the atoms in the H clouds to develop a sudden brightening .

“ That ’s rare , ” Méndez said . “ What ’s the prospect of a magnetar being justly behind one of those cloud , and have potent enough radiation therapy to excite that cloud , and for someone to be looking in that direction at the same time ? ”

Méndez and his squad will run follow - up observation using the Very Large Telescope in Chile to identify the accurate clouds behind the signals find in the archived data . The astrobiologist is driven to learn more about his newfound compulsion . “ I learned so much about the Wow ! signal in the last few months compared to my whole life , ” he said .

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