However, since no other telescopes picked up the signal that night, those two theories seem to wash out.
Initial explanations included a stray signal from an unknown military satellite and possibly even a signal that may have bounced off the Moon. However, we still have no idea of the exact source of the strange extraterrestrial message. There have been many theories put forward to explain the Wow Signal. The mysterious narrowband radio signal appeared to come from the direction of the constellation Sagittarius and remains the strongest candidate for an alien radio transmission ever detected.Įven Ohio State University Radio Observatory director John Kraus wrote in a letter to Carl Sagan: “ The ‘Wow!’ signal is highly suggestive of extraterrestrial intelligent origin but little more can be said until it returns for further study.“ Completely baffled and surprised by the result, he circled the reading and wrote the comment “Wow!” on its side. Ehman discovered the anomaly a few days later. Keep up to date with the latest space news in All About Space – available every month for just £4.99.The Wow! signal was received on August 15, 1977, by the Big Ear radio telescope at Ohio State University.Īstronomer Jerry R. UPDATE: Since this story was published, a rebuttal has been released. Paris cannot yet confirm that the ‘Wow!’ signal originated from Comet 266P/Christensen, however they can safely say that this was created by a natural phenomenon, most likely a comet. Furthermore, when comets reach the inner Solar System they tend to lose mass, meaning Comet 266P/Christensen would have been much larger back in the day. With a greater light gathering capability in 1977, it is no surprise the comet signal was stronger.
Paris and his team used a telescope roughly five times smaller than BERA. The only difference in signals is that the one discovered forty years ago was much stronger, which can be explained by the difference in telescopes used. Using a 10-metre telescope, Paris and his team analysed the Comet 266P/Christensen and concluded that the signal matched the one found by BERA all those years ago. Notably, the team has verified that the comets were within the vicinity at the time, and they report. These icy bodies release gases as the Sun warms their surface this is what caused the hydrogen cloud. The Wow Signal was detected at 1420MHz, which is the radio frequency hydrogen naturally emits. These comets, 266P/Christensen and P/2008 Y2 (Gibbs), explain why the signal was never seen again, as they are always on the move. In August 1977, astronomer Jerry Ehman noted an unusual signal from the sky observed by the Big Ear Radio Observatory (BERA) in Ohio, United States. Astronomers prove that the signal originated from a comet, and not from extraterrestrial life. Petersburg College, Florida, United States, and his team determined that there were two comets that passed that particular region of the sky at the time of the observation. The elusive ‘Wow’ signal discovered forty years ago has finally been explained. According to Caballero, the so-called Wow Signal, detected by a radio telescope on August 15, 1977, may have originated at a Sun-like star 1,800 lightyears from Earth in the Sagittarius. Famously known as the ‘Wow Signal’, its origins remain a mystery, and continue to intrigue. More specifically it’s the hydrogen cloud accompanying a comet. On a late summer evening in 1977, Ohio radio astronomers discovered a strong, interstellar signal that is believed by many to be the best evidence of communication from an extraterrestrial civilization. It has long been speculated that the signal might have even come from extraterrestrial life.įast forward to the present, and in 2016 the Centre for Planetary Science (CPS) proposed the hypothesis that the source for the signal was in fact a comet. This 72-second-long signal caused a fair amount of confusion, as scientists ruled out the possibility of it originating from asteroids, exoplanets, stars and even interference from Earth itself.
WOW SIGNAL CODE
This signal really stood out from the rest, so Ehman put a ring around the code and jotted the famous ‘Wow!’ next to it. The elusive ‘Wow!’ signal discovered forty years ago has finally been explained. Image credit: Big Ear Radio Observatory & North American AstroPhysical Observatory (NAAPO) This is the original computer printout from 1977.
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