In the vast cosmos, signals are often a very sought-after resource since they carry information about the universe unseen to us, and in some cases could also be the evidence of extraterrestrial life. The “Wow! Signal.” detected in 1977, was once such a signal which is still a mystery to the scientists.
Discovery
It was on August 15th, 1977 that astronomer Jerry R. Ehman came across a strange anomaly in the data recorded by Ohio State University‘s Big Ear radio telescope. The signal was recorded over a period of 72 seconds, and hasn’t been observed since then. The signal came from the direction of the constellation Sagittarius.
The Unmistakable Signal
It was the signal’s intensity that set it apart from all the other signals recorded so far. On the telescope’s printout, a sequence of alphanumeric characters was used to represent the signal’s strength. Most signals received from space registered at various levels of intensity, but the signal stood out with a sequence of letters and numbers that read “6EQUJ5.”
The Search for an Explanation
Despite its captivating name, the Wow! Signal has remained a mystery. There have been a lot of hypotheses posited to explain the phenomenon but none have concluded so far.
Natural Phenomenon: Some speculate that the signal has no extraterrestrial life significance and is just a mere signal from a natural celestial body or source.
Man-Made Interference: Some doubted if it was from man-made sources such as military equipment, but was soon ruled out given the nature of the signal and the characteristics that hardly matched that of human-made signals of that time.
The Location of Interest: Sagittarius
As mentioned before, the signal was calculated to be coming from the Sagittarius constellation, specifically within a region known as the “Great Dark Rift.” This is an area full of gas clouds making it an area of interest for astronomers studying star formation.
Challenges in Solving the Mystery
One of the challenges was that the signal never recurred, or wasn’t detected ever again. This dampened the theory that it came from an extraterrestrial life source, which if true, would have repeated itself.
Another challenge was the Big Ear telescope’s design which raised questions. Some pointed out that it was not effective enough in accurately measuring the signals and the data might have been corrupted due to some technical interference.
The Wow! Signal remains one of the most tantalizing mysteries in the field of radio astronomy. Makes us wonder what mysterious signals lie out there that go undetected or misinterpreted from time to time! Maybe an advanced life form knows about us and is trying to contact us right at this moment? Hopefully, a day will come when we will have the answer.