Humans have long been fascinated by the possibility of existence of extraterrestrial life forms and advancement in astrophysics has enabled us to explore the deep space for any event that can bring us closer in exploration of any such advanced civilization.
Physicist Philip Morrison and Giuseppe Cocconi speculated that there is pretty good chance that if any alien civilization tried to contact us via radio signal they might do so using a frequency of 1420 megahertz (21 centimeters). It is justified by the fact that hydrogen which is the most abundant element in the universe emits a radio signal of the same frequency which makes it so common that any advanced civilization is likely to be familiar with the same.
In an attempt to explore these signals Ohio state university assigned the task to analyse these signals to now defunct ohio state university radio observatory nickname the “big ear“, this was the longest running program of its kind and was named search for extra terrestrial intelligence (SETI) in 1973.
By 1977 astronomer Jerry Ehman received a strong narrowband signal of 72-second duration. The signal appeared to come from the direction of the constellation Sagittarius and this signal included most of the characteristics which one can expect from extraterrestrial origin.
Ehman noticed the anomaly a few days later while analyzing the recorded data. He encircled the reading and was so impressed that he wrote Wow! on the side of the reading, Which somehow stuck and this signal came to be known as Wow! Signal.
This signal however didn’t carry any cryptic message to which some may suspect by the alphanumeric sequence 6EQUJ5 encircled by Ehman. But It is merely a representation of variation in intensity over time. No one heard this signal again.
Recently Professor Antonio Paris of St Petersburg College, Florida published his findings in Journal of the washington academy of sciences. According to Paris, signal didn’t come from an unknown alien source rather it came from two comets 266P/Christensen and 335P/Gibbs. These comets are surrounded by hydrogen gas cloud of diameter ranging millions of kilometer. It was confirmed that the comets were in the vicinity at the time signal was received.
This discovery might be a disappointment for the alien enthusiasts as this signal was the strongest contender for possible alien existence. But It is indicative of our ability as this signal remained mystery for more than 40 years and gives hope to decipher hundreds of strange alien signals from different stars.
Physicist Philip Morrison and Giuseppe Cocconi speculated that there is pretty good chance that if any alien civilization tried to contact us via radio signal they might do so using a frequency of 1420 megahertz (21 centimeters). It is justified by the fact that hydrogen which is the most abundant element in the universe emits a radio signal of the same frequency which makes it so common that any advanced civilization is likely to be familiar with the same.
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| Mysterious |
72 second radio blast
In an attempt to explore these signals Ohio state university assigned the task to analyse these signals to now defunct ohio state university radio observatory nickname the “big ear“, this was the longest running program of its kind and was named search for extra terrestrial intelligence (SETI) in 1973.
By 1977 astronomer Jerry Ehman received a strong narrowband signal of 72-second duration. The signal appeared to come from the direction of the constellation Sagittarius and this signal included most of the characteristics which one can expect from extraterrestrial origin.
Why the name Wow! signal
Ehman noticed the anomaly a few days later while analyzing the recorded data. He encircled the reading and was so impressed that he wrote Wow! on the side of the reading, Which somehow stuck and this signal came to be known as Wow! Signal.
This signal however didn’t carry any cryptic message to which some may suspect by the alphanumeric sequence 6EQUJ5 encircled by Ehman. But It is merely a representation of variation in intensity over time. No one heard this signal again.
It might be comets
Recently Professor Antonio Paris of St Petersburg College, Florida published his findings in Journal of the washington academy of sciences. According to Paris, signal didn’t come from an unknown alien source rather it came from two comets 266P/Christensen and 335P/Gibbs. These comets are surrounded by hydrogen gas cloud of diameter ranging millions of kilometer. It was confirmed that the comets were in the vicinity at the time signal was received.
This discovery might be a disappointment for the alien enthusiasts as this signal was the strongest contender for possible alien existence. But It is indicative of our ability as this signal remained mystery for more than 40 years and gives hope to decipher hundreds of strange alien signals from different stars.
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